Fast Times at Hueco Mundo High (Revised)
by WolfmanStarrk
Summary: The Arrancar face something they have never faced before: The Challenge of everyday life of your average teen! Main Pairings: Starribel, GrimmNel. (This is a rewrite/reworking of my previous submission.)
1. Chapter 1: First Day Jitters!

Chapter 1:

Lilynette's First Day Jitters

OR

Starrk and Grimmjow find a Crush!

"Starrk... Starrk... Hey Starrk, it's time to get up!", a young girl shouts, trying to wake her older brother up from his rather blissful slumber. 

"STAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRK!" Her shrill-sounding voice seemed to have no effect on the sleeping form before her, so she screamed even louder. "Come on, get your lazy ass out of bed!"

"Just five more minutes..." the sleeping figure under the covers murmured, waving his hand lazily towards the source of the noise as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Why do you ALWAYS make me do this the hard way?" The young girl sighed as she placed her hand over her face before grinning wickedly. "Not that I mind of course..." With that ominous line hovering in the air, the girl backed up a bit before running and full speed and jumping, landing a rather impressive jump kick on her brother's midsection. 

"OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR LILYNETTE?!" The young man half-screamed as he deftly rolled out of bed, one arm wrapped around his midsection as he half-heartedly glared at his younger sister. Despite having just roused from bed, the young man's appearance differed only slightly from his usual appearance. Shoulder length brown hair, always slightly windblown in appearance, paired with sleepy looking slate-gray eyes and a short goatee gave the young man a permanent appearance of just having woken up.

"Well, you wouldn't get up when I was shouting at you." Lilynette replied, "So what else was I SUPPOSED to do, hmmm?"

Starrk simply looked at her with a weary resignation and sighed, running his hand across his face and through his hair. Noticing that Lilynette's agitation was beginning to increase, he sighed once more and gestured with his head towards the hallway. "You might as well start getting ready" Starrk said, smirking slightly as he watched her expression change to one of slight confusion. "What? I don't want you to be late on your first day after all." 

"Really? The world's laziest man is telling ME not to be late?" Lilynette thought to herself, "How bizarre..." Mentally shrugging, Lilynette returned to her room to finish her own morning routine. As she put the finishing touches on her appearance, she grinned as she heard the shower start, quickly followed by some quiet singing. Starrk annoyed her sometimes, like all siblings are wont to do, but she still loved her older brother dearly. 

Having finished his shower and dressing in record time, Starrk entered the kitchen just a minute or two after Lilynette. Keeping with the dress code of his school, he was wearing a lightly rumpled white dress shirt with an open gray blazer and light gray slacks. Despite the relative formality of the uniform, he preferred to wear the shirt sligtly unbuttoned, untucked and blazer open, with comfortable broken-in black loafers finishing the ensemble. Around his neck he wore a simple pendant, a thin cord of leather with a single wolf claw, flanked by two small malachite beads, resting in the middle of his collarbone.

Lilynette, dressed in a similar gray uniform save for a skirt replacing the pants and a dark blue tank top with a flame pattern under the blazer, looked up at Starrk. "Well, finally slowpoke, I've been waiting for ages!"

Shrugging sleepily, Starrk simply goes to get a couple bowls, glasses, and a box of cereal from the cupboard. He settles at the table and fills the bowls with the dry cereal as Lilynette pulls the milk and orange juice out of the refrigerator. She pours the milk over both bowls and fills the glasses with the juice, and the two settle in for their breakfast, eating faster than normal in order to ensure their on time arrival. 

Just as the siblings were about halfway through their breakfast, they looked up as their Uncle Dordonii entered the kitchen. He was slightly taller than Starrk and his closely-cropped black hair was combed close to his head, save for two very bothersome spots that seemed to stick up like devil's horns. His van-dyke beard and mustache were kept neat and trimmed. Finishing off his appearance, he wore a rather outdated white suit with an upturned colar and a red tie. 

"Good morning niños, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah." Starrk mumbled, hardly slowing down his repast. 

"I'll say you did..." Lilynette muttered. 

"So Lily, today is your first day of high school, are you nervous?" Dordonii asked, casually glancing at her over the morning paper. 

"Nah, not really." Lilynette replied, shrugging her shoulders. Despite her casual dismissal, her body was tense and her nerves were not quite as steady as she would have liked. 

Giving her an assessing glance, Dordonii turned to her brother. "Now Starrk, I want you to keep a close eye on your little sister and make sure to keep her safe. I would hate for anything bad to happen to her." 

"No problem Uncle Dordonii" Starrk replied, finishing up his breakfast. 

Looking at his own watch, Dordonii grimaced. "Ah, niños, I have to get going, Mr. Arruruerie wants me to look over the financial reports. You two have a good day and I'll see you when I get home from work." 

"See ya, Uncle Dordonii," Lilynette said. "Tell Mr. Arruruerie we said 'Hi'." 

"Will do," Dordoni acknowledged, and he rushed out the front door, making sure that the door was shut behind him. 

"Well," Starrk said, "I think Uncle Dordoni has the right idea, once we're done with breakfast we should get going ourselves." 

Lilynette nodded in agreement as she polished off her breakfast. Once she was done, Starrk cleared the table off, putting the dirty dishes into the sink. Grabbing his own backpack, he double checked to make sure that Lilynette had her own messenger bag. Confirming that they had everything they needed, the siblings left the house, locking the door behind them, and took off in Starrk's dusty grey vintage Cadillac sedan.

 _Meanwhile at Hueco Mundo High..._

Stirring up more than a little bit of dust, a light blue Jeep with a license plate reading "PANTERA" tears into the Senior parking lot, deftly parking despite the high speed of it's entry. Half-jumping out of the driver's seat, an athletic young man of slightly above average height looks around with a cocky grin on his face. He is wearing the mandatory gray slacks and blazer, the latter worn open to reveal a white t-shirt emblazoned with a stylized roaring lion in dark blue. His hair can only be described as an electric blue, worn up in rough, messy spikes.

"Aw man... you have got to be fucking KIDDING me!" he growled as he quickly noticed that he was the first student there. "This is so... lame." 

Just as he began muttering to himself and cursing, a white minivan pulled up and parked next to him. In the driver's seat he saw a tall, thin and rather handsome young man with long blonde hair wearing a hawaiian shirt under his school blazer. The back door opened and a tall, slender man stepped out, His face had a stern expression and his long raven colored hair was tied back in a braid that hung over his right shoulder. He wore the more traditional school uniform of gray slacks, white dress shirt, tie and buttoned gray blazer. 

"Excellent, we've arrived early." The stern student said as the blonde student got out. 

Following the dour, formal student, three more students exited the minivan. One of them was a rather well-muscled man with broad shoulders, his crimson red hair unkempt on one side and shaved close to his head on the other. He was wearing the basic school outfit, only accessorizing with a pair of shades. The second student was tall yet rather plump. His dark brown hair was cut into a bowl style and framed his rotund, wide face. The third student to emerge was shorter and scrawnier boy with long, unkempt light-yellow hair that stuck out as though he had been electrified. The latter two wore the more traditional uniform as well, just without the ties and unbuttoned blazers.

"Huh huh huh huh, Hey Yylfordt" the heavy set student said, "Your mom's got huge boobs!" 

"Heh heh heh heh, yeah, she's hot!" the short, thin one said, "It's making me pitch a tent!" 

"Ugh... come on bro," Yylfordt moaned, "you've been saying that all morning. It's getting kinda annoying." 

"Yeah no shit," the broad shouldered boy said. "It's freaking creeping me out." 

"Heh heh heh, we don't care about that Edorad, do we Nakeem?" 

"Huh huh huh, no we don't Di Roy," Nakeem said, laughing along with his scrawny cohort.

"Yo! Yylfordt," the blue haired student called to his friend. "What's up? I thought you'd be the last one here, or at the very least one of the last ones anyway." 

"Oh, hey Grimmjow," Yylfordt replied, smiling in relief at the far more pleasant company. "Yeah, bro, I would be, except for 'Mr. Prim and Proper' over here," he said, gesturing to the tall, stern-looking man who was pulling at his braid. 

"Yylfordt, Grimmjow, it's the first day of classes and I desire not to be tardy. You will just have to cope with it," he said as he made his way to the front doors. 

"Come on bro, just chill out man." Yylfordt said. 

"Yeah, Shawlong, life's way too short to have a branch shoved up your ass all the time," Grimmjow said. 

Shawlong simply ignored them as he entered the building. Edorad looked back at Grimmjow and Yylfordt and shrugged before walking into the school. Di Roy and Nakeem followed, shoving one another and calling each other various insults all while laughing like a pair of lunatics. 

"One of these days, those two are gonna get themselves killed," Yylfordt said, shaking his head as he pointed his thumb towards Di Roy and Nakeem. 

"So, where's your li'l brother the 'Perfect Boy Genius'?" Grimmjow asked, smirking slightly.

"He recently got one of those electric bikes like the ones they have in Europe. He's been using it for about a month or so now and really loves it, even if he's been making adjustments to it... That means I don't have to cart him around with me anymore, thank God." 

As they were conversing, they paused as they saw a silver and black classic Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith glide into the parking lot and park under a rather large oak tree.

"Well shit, looks like the Goth King, Ulquiorra, just arrived." 

The boy who emerged from the vintage car was shorter than Grimmjow and extremely thin. His unkempt medium-length black hair clashed with his extremely pale face. He wore the traditional school uniform, but his dress shirt was jet black. His tie was a deep emerald green with a silver tie pin that was designed to look like a bat. Standing out the most, however, would be his emerald green eyes, the black lipstick he used on his upper lip and the two trails of light green make-up coming from his eyes down his porcelain cheek.

"Judas freaking PRIEST bro, what is he wearing? Is he coming from a funeral or is he on his way to a Satanic Mass?" 

"My money's on both." Grimmjow said.

"Shouldn't you two pieces of trash get inside?" he asked in a low, monotonous voice. "Of course, you might be trying to achieve a record in the fastest time to obtaining a detention. I'm sure I wouldn't know if that was the case, nor can I bring myself to care." 

"Bite me, Satan Spawn!" Grimmjow shouted. 

"Spare me your dramatics, Blueberry," Ulquiorra said and walked towards the school. 

"Stuck up little prick..." Grimmjow growled, "Who the hell does he think he is?!"

"I hear ya, bro," Yylfordt said as the duo made their way towards the school. "I mean, just because he's from a rich and influential family and all..."

As they continued talking, they suddenly heard a horn honking behind them. They turned around and saw a dusty grey Cadillac pulling into a parking spot. Grimmjow grinned, forgetting about his exchange with Ulquiorra, at least until the next time the two would meet. 

"Heh, I would know that car anywhere," he said as he saw the car's owner step out. "Hey, Starrk! What the hell kept your lazy ass?" 

"Oh, hey, Grimmjow," Starrk said. "I was..." 

"He was busy in bed," a shrill voice called out. "He was having some wild and crazy wet dreams."

"Lilynette," Starrk said, startled by his younger sister's statement, "That's inappropriate and not really something a young lady should say."

"Aw come on, Starrk, I'm 14 years old. I'm pratically a grown woman."

"Doesn't matter, it's still inappropriate and I DON'T have wild and crazy wet dreams," Starrk replied, his normal lethargy showing in his voice.

"Dude, when the hell did Lily become such a pervert?" Grimmjow asked, trying not to burst out laughing.

"I have no idea man," Starrk replied as they entered the school.

 _Inside the School..._

As always, the entire student body had to gather in the auditorium to endure the mandatory introductory speech from the school's venerable principal, Baraggan Luisenbarn. While this might have been necessary for the new students, the returning ones were almost uniformly annoyed by the assembly.

"Aggh, every year that old fart gives the same damn speech!" Grimmjow said, his tone having slipped into a half-growl as they began to make their way to the auditorium.

"Meh, I never really worry about it," Starrk muttered, planning on happily dozing through most of the assembly. 

"No duh! That's cause you always sleep through it like you do half of your classes."

"Uh, where's the auditorium?" Lilynette asked.

"Don't worry, Munchkin," Yylfordt replied, "Just stick with us."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" a very loud voice bellowed out. "Why do we have to go to the assembly NOW? I'm starving over here!" 

"Be quiet Yammy, you're embarrassing yourself," a calm and monotonous voice replied.

"But... but, Ulquiorrrraaaaaaaaa...," Yammy whined, "I want bacon NOW!"

Ulquiorra simply sighed and walked into the auditorium with Yammy in tow, slouching as he wore a rather sad look on his face. Soon the quartet consisting of Starrk, Lilynette, Grimmjow and Yylfordt shared a glance before following the unlikely duo into the auditorium.

The auditorium was quickly filling with students taking their seats. Yylfordt chose to sit with the same group he arrived with earlier. Lilynette, who was not sure what to do, remained with her brother and Grimmjow. Ulquiorra, as usual, decided to sit by himself, or at least as close to alone as possible since Yammy seemed to find him without fail. 

"Uh-oh, hey, look Starrk, Spoon Boy's here," Grimmjow said and pointed towards the back of the rather spacious room. 

Starrk shook his head and sighed with the news, but still turned to look, Lilynette following his example. What they saw an extremely tall and gaunt looking student leaning against the wall. He had long black hair and perpetually squinting eyes. The rather creepy smile on his face, which showed off his teeth, gave him a permanently creepy and sleazy look. He was wearing a hoodie but the hood seemed to have been altered so that it stood up, looking very much like a spoon. Standing next to him was another boy who was of medium height with close-cropped blond hair. Under his blazer he was wearing a shirt with a large exclamation point on it. Both siblings happened to notice that the shorter boy was not only carrying his own bag, but also the taller student's. 

"My, my, look at all the fine pieces of ass just waiting to be plundered, eh Tesla?" The tall student said, in a rather high pitched, raspy voice that tended to put most people on edge. 

"Yes, Master Nnoitora," Tesla replied, his demeanor resigned yet submissive. 

"Ugh, fucking creep," Grimmjow said, keeping his voice low. "Too bad he didn't get his scrawny ass thrown in jail."

"COME ON! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! COME ON, START!" someone cried out.

Starrk, Lilynette and Grimmjow all looked towards the source of the shouting and noticed another group of students who were sitting close to Yylfordt and his group. The one who was shouting and screaming was a rather tall and muscular boy with long black hair. He was wearing a western-style shirt covered with what looked like stylized thunderbirds. He was jumping up and down, clapping his hands as he shouted. 

Next to him was another student who had long, flowing blonde hair that was similar in style to Yylfordt's but a bit more slim. Next to him was a rather large, serious-looking student with a shaved head, save for a round patch of black hair at the top of his head. He put one of his large hands over his face and shook his head out of disgust and/or shame. Sitting next to him was another heavy-set individual, although not as large as the serious looking student, who sat with a slightly eerie smile on his face, a chipped tooth protruding from the left side of his mouth. It was clear this poor boy suffered from some form of head trauma. 

Sitting in the middle of this rather interesting group was a shorter and slim student with short, unkempt hair save for a longer bit at the back that was braided into a short ponytail. Under his blazer he wore a brown, sleevless shirt and slightly darker gray pants. However, the final member of this group was perhaps the most frightening. He was an extremely buff student with purple, curly hair and wearing the female version of the school uniform: a tight, white blouse and a short, gray skirt with pink, sparkly heels and a hot pink belt with a heart buckle in the middle. His look was completed by a sparkly white tiara nestled in his wild locks. 

"Ugh... no matter how many times I see you wearing that... I still want to gag," the shorter student said. 

"Oh Ggio, darling," the student said. "You're just jealous because you know you will NEVER be as beautiful as me." Then the rather flamboyant student extended his left leg, resting his foot just above his head. 

"GOOD GOD! CHARLES, IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS SACRED PUT YOUR LEG DOWN AND SIT DOWN! NO ONE AND I MEAN NO ONE WANTS TO SEE YOUR PACKAGE!" the loud student cried out, clearly horrified by the display in front of him. 

"Oh Avirama, don't call me 'Charles'. I told you to call me 'Charlotte'. I'm the BEAUTIFUL Charlotte Cuuhlhourne. Either get it right, or I will be forced to go all 'Reina de Rosas' on you."

"NO!" the others, except for the two largest members of the group and the blond cried. 

The blonde simply cried out "EXACTA!" while the two larger students kept silent. 

"Hey guys," the large, beefy boy said. "Where are the nachos? You told me there would be nachos, Ggio and I'm HUNGRY!" 

Ggio was obviously losing his patience with his group. He tried to hold it back, but he had taken all he could and couldn't keep quiet any longer. 

"God...damn...it," he growled. "Nirgge, there are NO Nachos!" he shouted. "Avirama STOP that damn screaming. Findor, if you say 'Exacta' one more time, I'm gonna bust your face in! Cuuhlhourne, sit down and stop showing off your panties! Poww... SAY SOMETHING DAMMIT!" 

Poww simply shook his head and refocused his attention on the book he was reading. Lilynette stared at the group, fascinated by the sight before her.

"Hey, Starrk, is everyone here that psycho?" Lilynette asked. 

However, Starrk was already leaning back in his chair and taking his first nap of the day.

"Oh, you must mean them," Grimmjow said and gestured to Ggio and his group who were already at each other's throats, save for Poww who was simply reading. 

"Eh, it's Ggio Vega and his group. They're pretty much harmless... well, except for when Cuuhlhourne's wearing one of his 'outfits'," Grimmjow said, shuddering slightly at the thought. 

Lilynette continued to look around the auditorium. She noticed a group of four older girls entering the auditorium. Two of them were arguing with each other over who knows what, with as much intensity as Ggio's group. The third member simply rolled her eyes, annoyed by her cohort's childish squabbling. The fourth, however, did not seem to notice the argument taking place. Lilynette elbowed her brother, wanting to ask him about those students, but Starrk just mumbled something and started to doze again. Lilynette decided to simply ask him about them later and turned her attention back to the stage.

"Yes, YES!" someone else cried out. 

Lilynette quickly turned to look for the source of the latest disturbance. She saw a pink-haired, bespectacled boy holding something up. A small group of nondescript students surrounded him, looking at him in amazement. 

"Yes, this will be my greatest creation to date," he said, his laughter tinged with a distinct psychotic edge. 

"Um, monarch," one of the group, a short and rotund student said. "What IS it?"

"THIS is a work of pure genius," the apparently deranged student said. "This is a formula, of my own creation I might add, that will enhance the consumer's brain activity and output fifty times the normal rate. Yes, with this I will be able to complete an ENTIRE YEAR'S worth of assignments in a matter of mere MINUTES! And, considering my intellect, ALL of the answers WILL and I repeat WILL be right!" 

"You are truly a genius above all other geniuses," another member of his group said. 

"Of course I am!" he cried out, "I am the deliciously fabulous boy genius, Szayel Aporro Grantz!" You are fortunate to even be near me, my minions!" 

"So...uh...who's going to be the test subject? one of his "minions" asked. 

"I will, of course," Szayel Aporro said. "After all, I will be the one to benefit most from this." 

"But...but what if it...? 

"I AM THE PERFECT BEING! YOU DARE TO QUESTION MY ABILITY?!" Szayel Aporro shouted at the "minion" who just spoke. 

"No... no, monarch, I'm not..." the "minion" replied. 

"Very good then, now BEHOLD my true genius," he said as he drank the strange mixture. 

As he was drinking, Yylfordt looked up. 

"HEY BABY BRO, IF YOU'RE REALLY A GENIUS, THEN MAYBE YOU CAN INVENT YOURSELF A GIRLFRIEND!" he shouted. "OR PERHAPS YOU'D LIKE A BOYFRIEND!" 

"SHUT UP, YYLFORDT! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BEING A GENIUS YOU...YOU... YOU DOO-DOO HEAD?" Szayel Aporro shouted, and then a look of shock and horror came over his face when he realized what his come-back was. 

"Uh, monarch," the twin to the short and plump "minion" said. "I...uh... I think something's gone wrong with your..." 

"Who is that?" Lilynette asked, pointing at Szayel Aporro. 

"That's Yylfordt's little brother, the self-proclaimed 'genius' Szayel Aporro Grantz," Starrk replied. 

"Woah, Starrk, I'm surprised that you're actually awake," Grimmjow said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

"It's kinda hard to sleep when you have Dexter over there laughing like an escapee from a mental asylum," Starrk replied. 

"Yeah, no shit," Grimmjow added.

At that moment, a loud buzzing noise sounded and the curtains in front of the stage were drawn back. A spotlight shone down on the podium as a rather elderly-looking man stepped towards it. He was wearing a dark grey suit and a panama hat with a paisley hatband. He stroked his bushy white mustache as he turned to face the students. 

"So, is that guy Principal Luisenbarn or Skeletor wearing a skin suit?" Lilynette asked. 

"Lilynette! Watch what you say, Principal Luisenbarn doesn't exactly have... a sense of humor," Starrk said, suddenly wide awake and alert. Grimmjow simply snickered at Lilynette's query.

"Students of Hueco Mundo High," Baraggan said, his voice booming out of the speakers, which wasn't exactly necessary with him, "I WILL HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!" 

Everyone straightened when he shouted. The microphone and speakers only amplified his naturally booming voice and many could have sworn that they saw the lights hanging above shake a little. 

"I am your Principal, Baraggan Luisenbarn. To the incoming freshmen who are entering the hallowed and beloved halls of MY campus for the first time, know this: I do NOT tolerate insubordination!" Baraggan's voice was begining to take on a commanding tone and his voice seemed to cause the floor below to shake, as if his very presence induced fear. "And as for you upperclassmen, you're all a bunch of lazy, degenerate, perverted, disrepectful punks," he shouted, anger clearly showing in his tone. "Back in MY DAY, we had RESPECT for our elders! We NEVER painted little 'pieces of art' wherever we wanted and we WEREN'T careless with SCHOOL PROPERTY!"

As Baraggan continued his rant, Grimmjow was surprised to see that Starrk was still awake. Even Starrk himself was surprised by this turn of events, but it wasn't because of the principal's speech, or the volume of his voice. It was because he saw someone he didn't know.

He was looking towards the back where the three girls were still arguing with each other. Sitting among them was another girl who he didn't know. She had darkly tanned skin and blonde, unkempt hair with three locks that were held by dark blue bands. She was wearing the standard school uniform, with a white dress blouse contrasting her complexion nicely. She was wearing a silver bracelet with a silver shark charm around her left wrist to finish the ensemble.

What Starrk noticed most, however, were her blue-green eyes. Of course, he couldn't help but sneak peeks at other parts of her body, but his attention kept returning to her eyes. He thought that they showed a sense of authority and strength, but they also exhibited a sense of kindness and gentleness.

"Nor did we find ourselves treating women as objects for us to sodomize with our vast imaginations," Baraggan continued. "Ah, I miss those days. The days when we didn't have to deal with these troublesome 'hormones' or suffer from these horrific 'rebellious natures' or, even worse, this 'music television' that I've been hearing so much about!"

"Good God... every fucking year..." Grimmjow growled under his breath "... he gives the exact same speech,"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and, turning his head, caught sight of a girl trying to sneak in through the doors. She had the same buxom build as the blonde girl, of whom Starrk was still staring at, but her skin was milky white and her hair was dyed a vibrant blue-green. Her hazel eyes seemed to glitter as they looked around. She wore a light green shirt under her gray blazer. Around her neck she wore a silver necklace that had a ram's head charm hanging on it. Finishing her ensemble was a white beret was perched jauntily on top of her head. 

"AND WE WERE MOST CERTAINLY NOT LATE WHEN OUR ELDERS WERE GIVING VERY IMPORTANT SPEECHES!" Barragan roared and pointed at the girl, who was taken aback at being singled out.

"Eh he he he...," The girl giggled trying not to look embarassed, "I'm so sorry Principal Luisenbarn, I er, I got caught in traffic this morning." 

"Be that as it may," Principal Luisenbarn continued, narrowing his eyes. "You are still late. I'll let it go this time, HOWEVER, next time..." 

"I... um... I understand," she said, sitting in an empty seat, visibly letting the unpleasant encounter roll off her as she smiles. 

"Good, now then, I suppose it's time to introduce you to the faculty that will guide, or in all of your cases, ATTEMPT to guide you on the path of gaining a proper education. First we have..."

However, before the principal could introduce the first teacher, a flash of pink came flying onto the stage. Szayel Aporro's experiment seemed to have had taken full effect. Unfortunately, it was not the effect he was hoping for. The "genius" tackle-hugged the principal and started cuddling him and talking to him as if he was his pet, or at least a plush toy. 

"Awwwwwww" Szayel Aporro said, rubbing his cheek against the principal's chest, "Awen't you the most cuddwy wuddwy widdle penguin ever? I just wanna take you home and hug you and wuv you fowever." 

The auditorium erupted in laughter as Baraggan kept trying to push Szayel Aporro off of him, but the slim frame of the apparently mad scientist was surprisingly strong. 

"Hey Starrk! Check this out! Yylfordt's little brother has finally lost his mind." Grimmjow said in an attempt to tear Starrk's hypnotized gaze from the new student. 

Lilynette on the other hand had fallen to the floor, laughing so hard that her sides began to ache. Yammy was laughing so hard that he was starting to turn rather interesting colors. Ulquiorra simply put his hand over his face and shook his head. Ggio and his gang were also roaring with laughter at the scenario taking place on stage, save for Poww who looked up from his book. Seeing what was taking place on the stage, he sighed and simply returned his attention to the book.

"WOW BABY BRO, WAY TO GO! I HAD NEVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD COME OUT OF THE CLOSET ON PRINCIPAL LUISENBARN!" Yylfordt cried out, laughing. 

"COACH ZARAKI!" Luisenbarn shouted at one of the faculty members. 

"Yeah?" Kenpachi Zaraki said, as he pulled himself away from the patch of wall that he had been leaning against. He was a rather tall and extremely muscular man, covered in scars of indeterminate origins. He wore an eye-patch over his left eye and his black hair was styled into points. 

"GET THIS DRUGGED UP HIPPIE OFF ME!" 

"No problem, sir," he said and put his hands on Szayel Aporro's shoulders. "Come along now, let the principal go." 

"NIEN! I WANT MY WIDDLE PENGUIN!" Szayel Aporro shouted. 

"Yeah, whatever kid. You will let go," Kenpachi said and slid one of his arms in between Szayel and Principal Luisenbarn. With a sudden, sharp movement, Szayel was pried off of Baraggan. "Come along now, I think you need to 'cool off' a bit." 

"NO! I WANT MY PENGUIN!" he cried, acting like a spoiled child having a tantrum. 

As soon as Coach Zaraki dragged Szayel off of the stage, Baraggan cleared his throat. 

"NEITHER did we assault our elders, spouting off complete gibberish while high on dope!. Now then, before we were so rudely interrupted, allow me to introduce our faculty..." 

He stepped away from the podium and the first faculty member made his way to the front. He was a thin man with light blonde hair that stuck out from under his white and green striped hat. He had a rather mischievous grin on his face, and his eyes twinkled a bit as he watched the pink haired student be escorted out.

"Hello, students, I'm Kisuke Urahara. I'll be your science teacher. For anyone who's in my chemistry class, let's try NOT to blow up the school and each other." he said as he brought out a fan and after unfolding it, put it up to his mouth. "Unless, of course, you have a very good reason and a cleanup plan in place.

"How does this psychopath keep coming back as a teacher..." Ulquiorra muttered to himself.

After Urahara introduced himself, he returned to his seat as the next teacher made his way to the podium. He had long, white hair and a rather pale complexion with somewhat delicate features. As he made his way to the front, he put his hand to his mouth and started to cough. By the time he reached the podium, his cough had subsided. 

"First of all, to all the incoming freshmen, I would like to say, 'Welcome' and to our upper classmen, I want to say, 'Welcome back'. I'm Jushiro Ukitake and I'll be teaching History. I look forward to sharing my knowledge with you all. I hope I can make history fun and exciting for you." 

"So long as he doesn't die like, halfway through class," Grimmjow whispered. "Although..." 

After Ukitake finished introducing himself, he returned to his seat. As soon as he sat down, another man stood up and made his way to the podium. He had long. brown hair that was tied into a pony tail, except for a strand in front that hung over his left eye. Instead of the traditional school uniform, which most of the other faculty wore, he wore a bright red t-shirt with an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt over it, complimented by a panama hat with a bright, faux pink flower sticking out of the blue band. His cheeks, chin, and upper lip were covered in stubble. As he made his way to the podium, he waved to the students, most of whom applauded for him.

"Uncle Shu, I didn't know he taught here," Lilynette said. 

"You know him?" Grimmjow asked. 

"Yeah, he's our uncle. Hey, Starrk, look, it's Uncle Shu." 

"Huh?" Starrk asked and looked away from the mysterious student and looked to the stage. "Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention that Uncle Shu's a teacher here." 

"Hey man, you alright?" Grimmjow asked. 

"Yeah... I'm... I'm fine," Starrk said.

"Hey kiddos, I'm Shunsui Kyoraku, but please, call me 'Shu'. I'll be teaching Literature." he simply stated and made his way back to his seat. 

"As long as he can stay awake that is," Lilynette said, giggling. 

The next one to step up was a young, but rather stern-looking woman wearing glasses. Her hair was neatly combed and styled in a somewhat stern fashion. 

"Good morning, students," she said, "I am Nanao Ise. I'll be your math instructor for the year. Bear in mind that I will not tolerate any kind of disruption in my class. When you're in my class, you will be on your best behavior." 

When she finished, she returned to her seat as another woman made her way forward. She looked like Nanao, but her hair wasn't quite as neat and her hair was tied back in a braid. 

"Welcome students," she said. "I am Lisa Yadomaru, and I'm the School Librarian and Disciplinary Officer. When you are in my presence, you will not cause any disturbances, or you will be punshied severely. If I have to, I will oversee Saturday detentions, and since I woud rather not have to come in on Saturdays, should you cause me to, I will make sure that you experience a myriad of hellish tourtures."

When she finished, she returned to her seat, leaving the new members of the student body somewhat stunned by her demeanor. 

"Man, both Nanao and Lisa look cute when they get upset," Shunsui whispered to Ukitake, who simply smiled and nodded. 

The next to go up to the podium was a rather young, very flamboyantly dressed man. He wore a light pink dress shirt with white ruffles at the sleeve and a pair of powder blue pants. Finishing off his ensemble, he wore a subdued yellow vest with green trim. His hair was dyed a royal purple and accented with red and yellow feathers.

"Hello students, I am your art teacher, Yumichika Ayasegawa. HOPEFULLY I will be able to make you all aware of what true beauty is though proper instruction and tutelage."

"I HIGHLY doubt that," Cuuhlhourne muttered. "Ugh, Honestly, that gaudy costume can't be considered beautiful by ANY stretch of the imagination."

"Cuuhlhourne, shut the fuck up," Ggio whispered. 

When Yumichika left the podium, another faculty member stepped up. Unlike the previous teacher, this man was completely bald and wore a dark grey tank top over a pair of matching slacks. His expression was rather severe and foreboding, as if he was spoiling for a fight. 

"Yo," the bald teacher said, "I'm the assistant coach Ikkaku Madarame. Since Coach Zaraki is busy dealing that pink haired junkie, he'll be the one teaching PE. You better believe we will keep you all in line and in shape." 

After his introduction, Ikkaku returned to his seat and Principal Luisenbarn returned to the stage. He was followed by a tall, lanky student with a stern face. The boy was wearing a white and black sash across his chest and wore a whistle around his neck. 

"Now that you have been introduced to our faculty, allow me to introduce you to this year's head of the Hall Monitor Squad, Rudobon Chelute."

Rudobon nodded his head as he faced the students. 

"Good morning students, I am Rudobon Chelute, and as Principal Luisenbarn just stated, I am this year's Hall Monitor Captain. For those who wish to join the Hall Monitor Squad, please turn in the application that is included in your class packets. Keep in mind that I will only take the best and most well behaved students to join the 'Exequias'." 

"Thank you, Mr. Chelute," Luisenbarn said as Rudobon bowed to him and made his way off the stage. 

"Little kiss-ass," Grimmjow growled.

"Now pay attention, students. As you leave the auditorium, make sure that you receive your student packets at the tables, which include your class schedule. So make sure that you pick one up because you won't be coming to MY OFFICE to pick one up because you were either too stupid or too lazy to pay ATTENTION!" he shouted and slammed his hands on the podium. "YOU'RE DISMISSED!"

"Thank God that's over," Lilynette said, stretching.

The students began walking out the doors. Yammy couldn't wait and pushed his way through the crowd, plowing his own path through the throng. Ulquiorra, ever sensible, followed the much larger student, taking full advantage of Yammy's ability to spread the 'Student Sea'. Ggio and his group followed, still arguing among themselves, although Poww continued to read his book as he walked. 

"Come on, let's get going," Grimmjow said. "Hey, Starrk, come on." 

"Huh?" Starrk asked and looked at Grimmjow, blinking sleepily. 

"His 'Majesty' is done," Grimmjow said. 

"Oh, alright," Starrk said, stretching and yawning as he stood up.

 _A few minutes later..._

"Yo, Starrk," he said, trying to get Starrk's attention. "Dude, you've been staring at her ever since you saw her." 

"Well, I...I can't help it," Starrk said. "There's just something about her that... that just captivates me. 

"Yeah man, they're called tits," Grimmjow said, grinning. "Look man, I can tell you that she's hot, hell even a blind guy could tell you she's smokin', but you need to stop staring at her. You don't want her to think that you're some kind of creepy stalker pervert, right?"

"What?", Starrk asked, taken aback by the implications.

"Come on man, you don't want her to think that you're like Spoon Head over there," Grimmjow said and gestured to Nnoitra who was busy glaring at the girls with a disturbingly toothy leer.

Starrk finally realized what Grimmjow was trying to say. He forced himself to look away from the girl and look at his schedule. Looking around, he suddenly realized someone was missing from their group. 

"Shit..." Starrk said, his voice a mixture of panic and concern, "...I was supposed to keep an eye on her." 

"Who?"

"Lilynette, but I... I don't see her. Damn it, I was supposed to show her around and now I've lost her." 

"Come on Starrk, stop acting like a dumbass. Lilynette is a big girl now. I'm sure that she can take care of herself."

"Yeah but with perverts like Nnoitora around..."

"Ha, she'd simply kick him in his shriveled nuts if he tried anything. Besides, you're one to talk about perverts," Grimmjow said, and a rather smug smile came onto his face.

"Grimm, what the hell are you talking about? You know that I'm not a pervert." 

"And I call 'bullshit' on that one. I saw you checking out the new girl. That's how you lost Lilynette. You were too busy checking out the new girl and Lilynette simply walked out of the auditorium.

"How do you know that?" Starrk asked. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I saw it. She went up to you but you were so busy looking at the new girl that she just walked out by herself."

"Why the hell didn't you stop her?" 

"Come on man, I'm not worried about her. You never know, this might actually be a good thing for her... for both of you. She can't rely on you forever you know." 

"So what your saying is, you let her go because you felt that it's the best way for her to become more independant?" 

"That's right Wolf Boy. Hey, what class you got first?" Grimmjow asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh...uh... looks like I have Uncle Shu first." 

"Sweet, me too," Grimmjow said. They walked out of the auditorium and made their way to their first class of the day.

Lilynette looked at her schedule and looked up at the door. She turned away from the door and ticked her left forefinger back-and-forth.

"Eeney, Meeny, Miney, Moe..." she muttered, ticking her finger back and forth, keeping her eyes closed. 

Once she finished her mantra, she opened her eyes and saw her finger pointing to her right. She went down that way.

"That dumbass..." she muttered angrily. "He was supposed to show me around and help me find my way around. That useless..."

She was so irritated at her brother that she did not see the other girl who was also looking around, searching for her own classroom. The other girl was about Lilynette's age with close-cropped blonde hair. She was wearing the traditional school uniform with a white dress shirt, the collar flaps spread out over the gray vest's shoulders. As Lilynette kept muttering about things that she would like to do to her brother, the two crashed into each other.

"Hey!" Lilynette cried out. "Watch where you're going, are you blind or something?"

"Hey, you're the one who bumped into me!" the other girl cried out in a high shrill voice. "I'm freakin' lost here you know!" 

"Huh, you're lost too?" 

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"It's just, that I'm lost too. What class do you have first?"

"Algebra 1, but I can't find the right room. GYAH... this building is way too confusing!"

"Huh, I have the same class." Lilynette said. "Well, we could look for it together. We might as well be lost together, after all." 

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah."

"Oh, there you are, Kiyone," a soft, feminine voice said.

The two girls turned and saw another girl walking towards them. She had her hair tied in a bun, except for two locks that she allowed to frame her face.

"MOMO! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?" Kiyone cried out. 

"I was coming to... oh, hello," Momo said when she saw Lilynette. "I'm Momo Hinamori, pleased to meet you, and I see you've already met Kiyone Kotetsu. What's your name?" 

"I'm... I'm Lilynette G. Starrk," Lilynette said, holding out her hand. 

"What does the 'G' stand for?" Momo asked, as she shook Lilynette's hand. 

"It stands for Gingerback, my middle name."

"So, Lilynette, are you looking for Algebra 1?" Momo asked. 

"Yeah, do you know where it is?" 

"Yeah, that's why I was looking for Kiyone," Momo said. "She has a tendency to get lost, despite her claims to know everything." 

"Shut up Momo," Kiyone growled.

"Can you take us there?" Lilynette asked. 

"Sure, no problem, just follow me," Momo said. 

The three girls walked down the halls and, with Momo leading, easily reached the door to the Algebra 1 classroom. Lilynette found that she was not nearly as nervous as she had been earlier. She felt at ease with the two girls and knew that she had officially made her first real friends.

"Wow, thanks Momo," Lilynette said. 

"Way to be a show off, Momo," Kiyone said. 

"You probably should have come to the school tour yesterday, Kiyone, then you most likely wouldn't have gotten lost," Momo said. 

"Although, that wouldn't have done her any good," someone said. 

They saw a boy who was a head taller than Kiyone walking towards them. His school jacket was unbuttoned, revealing a cream-colored polo shirt. To their surprise, he was also wearing a white headband. 

"Urgh Sentaro, did you come just to gloat?" Kiyone asked. 

"No, I'm here for class. Just like you."

"Oh really, well where's your guides? Or did you just find your way here by sheer dumb luck?" Kiyone asked. 

"I went to the school tour yesterday." 

"I didn't even know there was a school tour," Lilynette said. 

"Really?" Sentaro asked. 

"Yeah, my lazy dumbass of a brother was SUPPOSED to show me around, but he got distracted."

"Awww, you shouldn't say such things," Momo said. "I bet your brother had some things on his mind and he simply forgot about it. It happens to a lot of people." 

"Oh yeah," Lilynette said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'll say he had some things, TWO things acutally, on his mind, alright. He was staring at them during the assembly."

The two girls looked at Lilynette for a second and then at each other. Clearly they didn't understand what she was talking about. Sentaro however, understood completely and burst out laughing.

"Alright Sentaro, what's so funny?" Kiyone said, growling at him, "Let us in on it!"

"No way, I'm enjoying this." he replied.

"Why... you little..." Kiyone snarled and socked him one in the arm. 

"Ow, why did you hit me?" 

"Because you're being a total pain in the ass, as usual," Kiyone said. 

"Would you two please give it a rest?" Momo asked. "We don't want to be late."

"Fine, whatever," Kiyone said, looking at Momo. Then she looked at Sentaro and said, "This is FAR from over." 

Sentaro shook his head and the four entered the room. Lilynette sat in a seat close to Momo and Kiyone while Sentaro took a seat next to a window. After they took their respective seats, the bell rang, and Nanao Ise walked in. 

"Good morning, class, I hope you didn't have too difficult of a time getting here. Alright, let us begin." 

She took roll and when she reached Lilynette's name, she looked at her. A surprised look came onto her face when she saw that Lilynette raised her hand saying "here" and that she was wide awake and paying attention. She looked back at her roster and continued with roll call.

"Psst, hey, Lilynette," Momo whispered.

"Yeah?" Lilynette whispered back. 

"Why did Miss Ise look like that?" 

"Like what?" 

"Well she looked at you and got a surprised look on her face."

"Oh, that... I think it might have something to do with my older brother."

When Nanao finished taking the roll call, she passed out the course syllabus, complete with dates for tests and what chapters they would cover over the course of the year. After that was finished, Nanao began to lecture them on the basics of Algebra. As the class wore on, Lilynette discovered she was being increasingly bored with the class. Soon she began to nod off and laid her head on the desk to take an impromptu nap. Unfortunately for her, Nanao saw her. 

"Gyah!" She shouted. "I should have known better. Miss Lilynette, you will remain AWAKE in MY class. It's bad enough that I have to contend with your brother, but I hoped that would not take after him and fall asleep during my class."

"Oh...uh...sorry Miss Ise," Lilynette said, waking up. 

When Miss Ise continued with her lecture, Lilynette quickly decided that she would be one of her least favorite teachers simply because of sheer boredom. When Miss Ise finished her lecture she wrote the homework assignment on the whiteboard behind her. When the bell rang, the three girls walked out of the room. 

"Man... NO WONDER my brother sleeps through class," Lilynette said. "Miss Ise might be young, but she's so... so BORING." 

"I know she may be boring, but she really loves her job," Momo added. 

"Yeah... whatever, but did she really have to give us homework on the FIRST DAY? Man, if the year is going to be like that, I'll probably die either out of too much homework or out of pure boredom. 

"Oh, so that's what that was all about," Kiyone said. 

"What?" Momo asked. 

"Well remember when Miss Ise was taking roll call at the begining of class? She looked surprised when she saw you Lilynette. I was wondering what that was about until she saw you sleeping. Most likely your brother sleeps through her class and she was surprised to find you still awake. 

"Yep, that's it," Lilynette said. "Of course, my brother sleeps through all of his classes." 

"So, what's your next class?" Momo asked. 

"Oh... let's see," Lilynette said as she looked at her schedule. "Looks like I have Ukitake."

"Wait... what... Uki... Did you say UKITAKE?!" Kiyone cried out. 

"Yeah, so. what's the big deal? I mean we saw him at the assembly," Lilynette said. 

"Yeah, but I fell asleep. I... I didn't realize..." 

Just then they spotted Sentaro rushing past them. 

"UKITAKE!" he cried out.

"HEY NO FAIR! GET BACK HERE YOU DUMBASS!" 

"NO WAY, I'M GETTING TO CLASS FIRST!" 

"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!"

"Uh... are those two crazy?" Lilynette asked. 

"Nah, they're just having one of their usual squabbles. They've been like that since at least junior high," Momo said.

"Why?" 

"Well, Mr. Ukitake used to teach at Menos Foresta Junior High School. They were part of his last class, before he got his current job here," Momo said. "I guess they really liked him."

When they got to class, they saw Kiyone and Sentaro were both sitting in the front row and directly in front of the podium. Lilynette quickly noticed them glaring daggers at each other. When the bell rang, Ukitake entered the room and Kiyone and Sentaro sat up and faced directly forward, as if they were being called to attention.

"Good morning, class," he said, "I'm so glad to see so many new faces here, and a few familiar ones too." He looked directly at Kiyone and Sentaro as he said that. "Anyways, before we begin, I could use some help from time to time and would really like for someone to volunteer as a class assistant."

Before he had finished his announcement, Kiyone and Sentaro both raised thier hands and then glared at each other. Lilynette put a hand over her mouth and giggled as silently as she could.

"STOP IT, KIYONE. I HAD MY HAND UP FIRST!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T, I DID!"

"PUT YOUR HAND DOWN. PROFESSOR UKITAKE'S GOING TO PICK ME!" 

"NO HE'S NOT! HE'S GOING TO PICK ME!" 

"Um... uh... I... uh... what if I...?" Ukitake tried to say. 

"I'M PROFESSOR UKITAKE'S FAVORITE!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT! I'M HIS FAVORITE AND YOU'RE HIS REJECT!"

"THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA KNOCK YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!"

"OH YEAH? BRING IT! I'M GONNA KNOCK YOU INTO NEXT MONTH!"

"Now now, would you two please settle down? You both can be my assistants," Ukitake said, gently putting his hands on each of their shoulders.

"Really?" the two asked.

"Yeah, sure," Ukitake replied, although he was unsure that he made the right decision.

"ALRIGHT, just wait and see," Kiyone said. "I'll show you that I'm better than this loser." 

"No way, I'm going to prove that I'm better than you," Sentaro replied.

"This is going to be a very LONG year," Ukitake muttered.

As the class progressed, Lilynette found that while Miss Ise was boring, Mr. Ukitake was actually making the class fun and interesting. She found out that he would sometimes bring props to class with him and then have them go outside to have the class re-enact famous historical events. He would also go over famous historical documents with them and have them write stories or essays about how those documents played a role in shaping history and society. Lilynette decided that Mr. Ukitake was definitely going to be one of her favorite teachers.

After her History class with Ukitake, Lilynette's next class was PE. She had a feeling that she was going to enjoy this class. After all between her and Starrk, she was the more active and energetic of the two. After getting into her PE uniform, she was surprised to see that her brother and Grimmjow were also having PE at the same time. As she made her way to the volleyball court she was not surprised to see her brother taking another nap on the bleachers.

"How many naps does that make for him today I wonder?" Lilynette thought to herself before being startled by nearby shouting.

"IF SHE WANTS TO PLAY VOLLEYBALL, THEN WE ALL PLAY VOLLEYBALL!"

Lilynette turned around and saw the three girls she saw earlier at the assembly arguing with each other. She saw the blonde girl standing near them, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. She looked over towards her brother, but saw that he was still asleep. However, Coach Zaraki noticed her brother's impromptu nap as well. He walked towards him and towered over the prone student.

"Well, well, well," he said, "What do we have here? A GOOD FOR NOTHING, LAZY SLACKER! COME ON YOU LAZY BUM! GET YOUR SORRY ASS UP!" Kenpachi grabbed Starrk's shoulders and forced him up. Starrk immediately became wide awake and leapt from the bleachers. "Now that you're up... GET OUT THERE AND SWEAT!"

Starrk, out of sheer terror, began to run what would have been the fastest 100-yard dash in the history of Hueco Mundo High, if not for the records set by Ggio Vega, who was on the track team.

"Hey Yachiru," Kenpachi said, turning to a small, pink haired girl who was standing next to him. "Make sure that one gets a good work out," he said pointing directly at Starrk.

"Aye Aye, Kenny," Yachiru replied and ran towards Starrk.

Lilynette couldn't help but watch her brother being chased by the adorable little mascot. A wide grin spread across her face and she began to giggle at the sight of her older brother fleeing from the little girl. That and the fact that she made some good friends on her first day caused Lilynette to forget about her anxieties.

"Tee-hee-hee, serves you right ignoring me like that," she said.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" someone asked.

"Oh, just my brother getting his ass handed to him by the mascot," she replied and turned around.

She saw the blonde-haired girl standing behind her and looking to where Lilynette pointed. The girl smiled a little and returned to the three girls who were now arguing over who was going to serve the ball first.

"Come on, Mr. Sleepy Puppy! You gotta feel the burn! Hee-hee-hee!" Yachiru cried out, laughing.

"Grimmjow, help me," Starrk shouted, but Grimmjow, who was busy at the basketball court with Yylfordt and his group, only laughed.

When the bell rang, the class made their way to the locker rooms to change into their school uniforms. Grimmjow strode in next to Starrk, who was clearly more exhausted than usual. The mysterious girl walked with her own friends, still yelling and arguing with each other.

"See ya, Sleepy Head!" Yachiru cried out and waved to Starrk.

Lilynette could only laugh. Momo soon rushed up beside her. 

"So, was that your brother?" Momo asked, pointing to Starrk.

"Yeah, that's him."

"I guess he didn't get much in the way of sleep did he?" she said, giggling. 

"Nope, but knowing him, he'll more than make up for it."

 _10 Minutes Later..._

The cafeteria was bustling as the students got their lunches and sat in their own groups. Lilynette was sitting with Momo, Kiyone and Sentaro. The later two still arguing over who was a better teacher's assistant for Ukitake, but that didn't bother Lilynette. She decided to use the time to work on her math homework that Miss Ise assigned them. She tried her best to ignore the grumbling noises her stomach was making.

"Um, Lily?" Momo asked.

"Yeah?" Lilynette asked, looking at Momo.

"Why aren't you eating lunch?"

"Oh... uh... well I... I wanted to get this assignment out of the way, you know, since math is so dull. Plus, I wanna keep my cute figure."

"You forgot your lunch money didn't you?" Momo asked.

"Well... um... I didn't... that's not... ummm... well, yeah I did," Lilynette said.

"Why didn't you say something?" Momo asked.

"I... er... I was too embarassed."

"It's not a problem, you can have a bit of my lunch. You have to eat you know." Momo said.

"Are... are you sure?"

"Sure, here you go," Momo said and placed half of her sandwich in front of her.

"Hey, no fair Hinamori, I want to give Lilynette something too," Kiyone said as she placed two chocolate chip cookies down on the table.

"Oh no you don't, Kiyone," Sentaro said, placing a small can of Pringles in front of Lilynette. "If you're giving something to our new pal here then so am I."

"Gee, thanks guys." Lilynette said, smiling.

The other three students looked at her and smiled also.

 _Meanwhile, over with Starrk and Grimmjow..._

"Huh, well now, looks like Lily's made some new friends," Grimmjow said. 

"Huh?" Starrk asked, looking up.

"I said, 'Looks like Lily's made some new friends', see?"

Starrk looked to where Grimmjow was pointing and smiled. He was delighted to see his younger sister was making friends. He felt that Grimmjow was right earlier when he said that allowing Lilynette to try to find her own way around was for the best. That was when he saw the blonde girl sitting at another table with her group of friends. Once again, he found that he just couldn't look away from her. Grimmjow looked confused at first, but then he turned and looked to where Starrk was looking.

"Ugh... dude, seriously, you need to stop doing that. You're gonna end up with Nnoitrra's stalker rep if you keep this up." Grimmjow said. However, he then noticed the girl with the blue green hair walking in, and he found himself unable to stop staring at her.

"Ha, you know, you really shouldn't be talking, 'Kitty'," Starrk said. "You're no better when it comes to Nel."

"Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute. Starrk, are you saying that you actually know that girl's NAME?"

"Uh... yeah, so what?" Starrk asked.

"Why... the hell... didn't you tell me? Why were you holding out on me? How do you know her?!"

"Dude, Nelliel and I go WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back. We've known each other since before kindergarten."

"You bastard... why the fuck didn't you tell ME about HER?"

"Well... you never asked," Starrk replied lazily.

"Whatever man," Grimmjow replied, playfully giving his trademark 'salute', "But seriously, dude, share some info with me. Tell me about her," Grimmjow said, sounding more serious than usual.

"Well..." Starrk began.

"HEY, BABY BRO! SORRY THAT YOUR FIRST CRUSH DIDN'T WORK OUT FOR YOU!"

"SHUT UP YOU IGNORANT SACK OF PROTOPLASM!"

Starrk and Grimmjow turned and saw Yylfordt laughing as his brother, Szayel, continued to berate him. They looked at each other and grinned.

Nnoitra leaned against the wall, eating an apple, as he watched the girls, eyeing them as if they were prey and he was the hunter. Tesla leaned against the wall as well and was snacking on a piece of beef jerky, doing his best to ignore what his friend was doing. He was concocting another plan to pick up some "random hottie." When he saw the blue-green haired girl, a wide, almost wicked looking grin appeared across his face. He looked like a miner who hit the motherlode of gold.

"Tesla," he said.

"Yes, Master Nnoitra?" Tesla replied.

"Wait here."

"Yes sir."

Nnoitra strutted towards the girl, trying his hardest to look sexy. However, he only succeeded in looking more like a creep.

"Hey baby, how would you like to spend some alone-time with me, the big N?"

"Nnoitra," the girl said. "Why do you continue to persist? You hit on EVERY girl EVERY day. You KNOW what the answer's going to be, or perhaps you enjoy living in your own little dream world."

"Aw, don't be like that Nelliel. You know you want me. Hell, every girl wants a piece of the world's greatest lover, Nnoitra Gilga."

Nelliel heard the desperation in Nnoitra's voice and rolled her eyes. She was tired of his persistent attempts to flirt with her, as well as him trying the same thing with other girls, so she really wanted to get back at him. Suddenly, she came up with a wonderful idea.

"Hmmmm, on second thought..." Nel said, smiling. "I think I will take you up on your offer."

"Woah, really?"

"Really, come on, let's jet."

"Heh, alright," Nnoitra said, grinning.

Nelliel grinned a wicked grin as she led Nnoitra out of the cafeteria. A few minutes later, there came sounds of a struggle taking place in the hallway, followed by a high-pitch shriek. Thinking that she was in danger, Grimmjow got up to help the girl, but Starrk put his hand on his shoulder. Then came the sound of someone being dragged down the hall and the front door opening and closing. Avirama rushed to the windows to look outside to see what was going on.

"HEY GUYS," he shouted, "CHECK IT OUT! SOMEONE'S GETTING TIED TO THE FLAG POLE!"

Everyone rushed over to the windows to take a look. Grimmjow rushed to the window and grinned as Starrk walked up behind him to take a look. Nnoitra was dressed in one of the school's female cheerleading uniforms and he was screaming furiously at Nelliel who was just finishing tying him to the flag pole. After she finished tying the knot, Nelliel stood back and admired her work and smiled.

"Oh and FYI, Nnoitra, the answer is still 'NO'."

"GODDAMN IT, YOU FUCKING BITCH GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!" Nnoitra cried out.

"Hmm, nah, I think you should stay there for a while. Perhaps you can learn some manners." Nelliel replied as she blew Nnoitra a raspberry while walking back to the cafeteria.

"Damn..." Grimmjow said, "She's a girl after my own heart."

"Is that so?" Starrk asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Damn right, I love a girl who can kick ass. Wait... You knew what was going on in the hall didn't you? That's why you stopped me, right?"

Starrk looked at him and shrugged, although there was a slight smile on his face.

Outside, Nnoitra was still screaming, letting loose many an obscenity peppered in with demands to be freed. Kiyone ran out with her cell phone, grinning. Nnoitra begged to be freed from his makeshift prison but Kiyone simply grinned at him and said "Click" as she took a picture of the "Spoon Cheerleader". After taking the photo she ran back into the cafeteria to show it off to her friends.

 _A couple of minutes later..._

"Oh. My. GOD! That was hilarious," Lilynette said, giggling as she and her friends made their way to their next class, Literature.

"Yeah man, no kidding," Sentaro said. 

"Hey, if you'd like, I can e-mail the picture of the lovely 'Spoon Cheerleader' to ya," Kiyone said.

"Oh yeah, please do. I want to make it my PC Wallpaper," Lilynette replied, still laughing.

"So what's our next class?" Momo asked. 

"Looks like it's Literature with Shunsui Kyoraku," Lilynette said.

Lilynette smiled when she said that. She knew that their Literature class would be a rather interesting class. After all, her Uncle Shu was a lot like her brother in both looks and mannerisms. After taking their seat, the class waited for Mr. Kyoraku to start the class. When the class bell rang, they turned to the door, but Mr. Kyoraku did not enter. However they didn't think anything about it and, after ten minutes, they began to talk among themselves.

"Hey, where is he?" Momo asked. 

"Yeah isn't he supposed to be here by now?" Kiyone asked.

The other students were beginning to get worried, except for Lilynette who only rolled her eyes.

"Shouldn't someone go and find him?" someone asked.

"I'll go," Lilynette said and got up from her seat.

"Lily, aren't you worried about getting into trouble?" Momo asked.

"Nah, not really," Lilynette replied. "If I run into that Rudobon guy, I'll just get Uncle Shu to cover for me."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'Uncle Shu'?" Kiyone asked.

"I'll tell ya later," Lilynette said and slipped out the door.

She made her way down the hall towards the staircase that led to the flat top roof where some of the students had lunch. She knew where it was due to Momo pointing it out while the group was on their way to Ukitake's class. As she made her way to the stairs, she spotted the tall, thin boy with the black and white sash and, unfortunately for her, he spotted her as well.

"What are you doing out of class?" Rudobon asked.

"Oh, I was looking for our professor," Lilynette replied.

"I see, Do you have a hall pass?"

"Of course I don't have a hall pass. I told you that I was looking for our professor."

"You'd best watch your tone with me. Otherwise I will report you to...wait...who's your class professor?"

"Shunsui Kyoraku," Lilynette replied.

"I see, and you are..."

"I'm Lilynette Starrk and Mr. Kyoraku is my uncle."

"Ah yes, Principal Luisenbarn informed me that if you were out searching for Mr. Kyoraku then I should not hinder you. Do you know where he might be?" 

"I have a good idea."

"Very well, but take heed that you do not wander the halls during class for any other reason."

"I won't"

'Very good," Rudobon said and marched off.

"Man, that guy is such a tight ass..." Lilynette muttered to herself and finally made her way up the stairs.

She opened the double doors at the top and walked out onto the roof. Scanning the roof, she spotted her uncle lying on one of the metal benches. He had his hands under his head and his hat covering his face. Lilynette walked towards him and shook him a little, trying to see if he was awake or dozing.

"Hey, Uncle Shu," she said.

"Hmm...what...oh, hey Lily, what is it?" Shunsui asked as he removed his hat from his face.

"Class started twenty minutes ago," Lilynette said. 

"What? Did it now? Whoops, my bad," he replied as he got up,taking his time as if there was no need to rush. "You didn't get into trouble did you?"

"Nope, although I did run into that tight ass, Rudobon. He didn't report me or anything. He said that Principal Luisenbarn informed him about me."

"Ah good, I was hoping he would. He's the only one who can get Rudobon to bend the rules a little."

After Lilynette and Shunsui entered the class, the class was nearly over. Shunsui did have enough time to pass out the course syllabus as well as the copies of the first book they would be reading, _Lord of the Flies_ , and give a brief synopsis. When the bell rang, Shunsui told them that their homework was to go over the syllabus and read the first three chapters for the discussion tomorrow.

"Alright then, so why did you call Mr. Kyoraku 'Uncle Shu'?" Momo asked.

"Well...Mr. Kyoraku is my uncle, on my mother's side. While everyone else was panicking, I had a pretty good idea where he might have been."

"Huh, I thought he reminded me of someone. He looks a lot like your brother. Does that mean he also likes to sleep a lot?"

"You have NO idea. He also has a thing for sleeping on rooftops. In fact, whenever he would come to visit, if we couldn't find him, the first place we'd look would be on the roof."

"Wow, that's so weird."

"Yeah, but no where near as weird as who our next teacher is," Kiyone said.

"I guess that means we have Mr. Ayasegawa next doesn't it?" Lilynette said.

When they approached the door to their art class they saw that it was decorated with massive amounts of feathers and spider lilies. Upon opening the door, they saw green and purple streamers hanging from the ceiling. The walls were covered with various images of peacocks and red and yellow feathers.

"What...in the...unholy...hell...is this?" Lilynette asked.

"This...my dear child, is beauty," Yumichika said.

Lilynette, Kiyone and Momo jumped a little in surprise at the flamboyant teacher's sudden appearance. Seeing their collected confusion, he simply looked down at them and shook his head.

"Well now...I see that you lot do not see the beauty within my decorations. I have hopes that you will, but...alas, I do not think you will. After all, not everyone can comprehend true beauty," Yumichika said. "Now then, you'd best take your seat, class is about to start.

During class, Lilynette found it nigh impossible to pay attention to anything Yumichika was saying. The room's decorations and the teacher's outfit were too much of a distraction. She looked around the room at the other students and saw that many of them were also distracted.

'Is this REALLY his idea of beauty? Man, talk about a mental case,' Lilynette thought.

However, if she questioned the sanity of Yumichika, she quickly learned that her final teacher for the day made him look like a boring, drab businessman. When she entered the science room, she saw Mr. Urahara sitting on the teacher's desk with a fan over his mouth. She took a seat at one of the tables and looked around her. The other students only looked at Mr. Urahara with a combination of interest, apprehension and a hint of fear. Just as the final student came rushing through the door, the bell rang.

"Well then, is everyone here?" he asked, lowering the fan from his face, revealing a smile. "Good, I'll be handing out the class syllabus and today's class will simply be going over guidelines. You'll definitely want to pay very close attention to these, especially when we begin doing lab work next week."

When he mentioned "lab work" his smile became even bigger. Lilynette looked over to Momo who was sitting next to her and the two exchanged a worried look. As Mr. Urahara continued with his introductory lecture, Lilynette couldn't help but pay attention to him. She began to hope that someone wouldn't accidentally blow up the school, though she quickly suspected that Mr. Urahara wouldn't mind a few explosions here and there.

When class was over, Lilynette walked to the front entrance with her friends. As they left, they saw that Nnoitra was still tied to the flag pole and Tesla was trying, in vain, to free him. The group looked at this sight and started to laugh.

"Oh wow...it's even...funnier seeing it...in person," Lilynette gasped in between bouts of laughter.

"You got that right, Munchkin," Grimmjow said as he and Starrk walked out.

"Oh, hey Grimm, hey big brother, I want to introduce you to some of my friends. This girl here is Momo Hinamori and this girl with the short blonde hair is Kiyone and the boy she's been arguing with all day is Sentaro."

"WE HAVE NOT BEEN ARGUING ALL DAY!" Kiyone and Sentaro shouted in unison. Lilynette simply giggled at their reaction.

"Hey," Starrk said, lazily waving his hand at the group.

"It's nice to meet ya," Grimmjow said.

"Wonderful to meet you too," Momo said smiling sweetly.

"Well, we should probably get going, Starrk," Lilynette said.

"Oh, yeah," Starrk said. "I'll see you tomorrow Grimm." 

"We'll see you tomorrow too, Lilynette," Momo said.

"Alright, see ya," Lilynette said, waving as her four friends made their way to the buses. 

"HEY STARRK!" Grimmjow shouted out as Starrk and Lilynette made their way to the dusty grey Cadillac.

"Yeah?" Starrk asked. 

"You ARE gonna introduce me to that Nel girl, right?" 

"Oh...yeah, yeah, sure," Starrk answered. 

"AWESOME!" Grimmjow called out. "DON'T FORGET NOW!" 

Starrk waved to Grimmjow as he got into his car. His sister was already waiting for him.

"So, did you have a good day?" Starrk asked.

"Well other than a CERTAIN big brother forgetting to show me around..."

"Oh...yeah...sorry about that." Starrk replied, feeling rather ashamed.

"It's alright, it was worth it in the end, so you're forgiven. Anyway, I would have to say...it was a pretty good day," Lilynette said, smiling, as the siblings made their way home.

A/N: Special thanks to Vetis my editor and beta reader for helping make the story flow more smoothly and bouncing ideas back and forth.

EXTRA Special Thanks to MJLCoyoteStarrk for his take on this little story and inspiring me to rework my own.


	2. Chapter 2: I think I like you!

**Chapter 2:**

 **Study Buddies?**

 **OR,**

 **"I think I like you!"**

It did not take long for the student body to adjust to their respective schedules, no more than a week for most. Lilynette adapted especially well to life as a freshmen. Starrk was pleasantly suprised with his younger sister's progress. Every day she would eat lunch with her new friends Momo Hinamori, Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentaro Kotsubaki. A couple of days after the school year started, the four friends decided to hang out after school and help each other out with their homework assignments, if Kiyone and Sentaro weren't too busy arguing with each other of course. Starrk was more than happy to drive his little sister to these study sessions.

However, while Lilynette was quickly settling into her life at school, Starrk was having a bit harder of a time. He found himself becoming more and more intrigued with the mysterious girl ever since he first laid eyes upon her at the opening assembly. In the classes he had with her, it became increasingly difficult to keep his eyes off of her. While this had no negative effect on his school work, it did have an adverse effect on his circle of friends.

Yylfordt would sometimes give Starrk some good natured ribbing over it, but he was rather concerned, especially considering Starrk's track record with relationships. Even though Grimmjow shared Yylfordt's concerns, he was more irritated with his friend than concerned.

"Dude, if you're not careful..." Grimmjow said.

"I know, I know," Starrk replied.

"Yeah well... just so you know. Anyways, why the hell haven't you introduced me to Nel, yet?"

"I... I guess I keep forgetting."

"Yeah, no shit, and I'm pretty sure I know why."

"Oh really now? And just what is your theory, Sherlock?"

"That's an easy one, it's that girl you're constantly staring at."

"Alright, alright, I get the point."

"I dunno man, I don't think you do, Starrk. Look, I'm worried that if you keep going on this way, something bad's gonna happen to you. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt again."

Starrk tried his hardest to not stare at the new girl, but he failed from time to time. Starrk didn't fully comprehend just how severe his problem was, at least until that Wednesday. It happened during Shunsuei Kyoraku's class while Kyoraku was taking one of his "powernaps". His excuse for the nap this time was that he needed to leave the class so that they could work on their essays on _A Tale of Two Cities_. It was then that the new girl's friends spotted him staring at their friend. Even though the trio argued and fought amongst themselves over nearly everything, they did agree on one thing and that was protecting their friend.

"HEY!" one of them shouted. "What the fuck is your problem? You bloody creep!"

Starrk looked at the girl who was standing before him, glaring down with a sharp look. She was wearing the standard school uniform, but instead of wearing a skirt, she wore a pair of dark gray pants and the sleeves of her white dress shirt were rolled up to her elbows.

"I'm sorry," Starrk said, rather confused.

"Don't you DARE give me that fucking bullshit. You've been staring at my best friend for over a goddamned week."

She leaned forward until her face was almost touching his. Starrk noticed that she had heterochromia. The right eye was an icy blue and her left eye was amber, but both eyes burned with rage. Starrk was fully awake by this time, but still didn't know how to react to this girl, let alone answer her queston.

"Well... I'm waiting," she said. "Are you going to apologize or are you just going to sit there like the drooling pervy fucktard you are?"

Starrk felt his face turn red at the girl's outburst. He didn't know what to say, and the girl leaning closer to him made him feel even more nervous.

"Get over yourself, Apacci," One of the other girls said. The girl who was approaching was dark-skinned with long wavy, dark hair. Her white dress shirt was unbuttoned almost halfway and her blazer was open, showing off a great deal of her impressive cleavage.

"Fuck off, Mila Rose," Apacci growled. "I'M Lady Harribel's best friend, not you!"

"Ugh... you're so pathetic," Mila Rose said, grinning. "Just keep telling yourself that, Apacci. I'm sure that Lady Harribel will take pity on you."

Apacci looked at Mila Rose with an almost murderous intent, Mila Rose looked at Apacci's expression and simply smirked at her, which only further infuriated the hot tempered girl. Then Mila Rose turned her gaze over towards Starrk, whose face had grown even redder. Her eyes narrowed and a dangerous gleam entered her eyes.

"As for you..." Mila Rose growled. "What the hell is your problem anyway? Are you another stalker who's trying to get into Lady Harribel's pants?"

Never in his life had Starrk felt so embarrassed, he wanted desparately to disappear. The blonde student looked over and only shook her head. She turned her focus on her essay, trying to drown out the shouting match her two friends were having.

"So help me GOD if you are another fucking perverted stalker," Apacci said, "I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING NUTS OFF! Now, do you understand me, you little fuckhead?"

"Alright that's enough Apacci," Grimmjow said. "What the fuck crawled into your panties? My buddy ain't a fucking pervert."

"Oh is that so?" Mila Rose said, moving forward until she and Grimmjow were almost nose to nose. "Well then smartass, what the hell DO you call someone who's been staring at a girl for OVER a fucking week?"

"Butt the fuck out Mila Rose!" Apacci shouted. "I'm taking care of this!"

That was when the argument became a three-way shouting match between Grimmjow and the mysterious student's friends. The other students in the class were already staring at them, and Starrk felt even more embarrassed. All he wanted to do was sink through the floor, but the best he could do was sink lower into his seat.

"Um, if I may ask..." a much calmer voice said, "Why have you been staring at Lady Harribel for over a week?"

"Starrk looked up and saw the third girl standing over him. She was rather slender and had long flowing olive-green hair. She wore a faux silver and diamond feather-shaped barrette on the front right-side of her hair. Unlike Apacci and Mila Rose, her face said that she was truly curious and simply wanted an answer as opposed to killing him outright.

"I... uh... well, honestly... I don't really know," Starrk replied, his voice sounding weak. "I guess... I guess it's just something about her."

"Hmmmm, I see," the girl said. "You have a crush on her don't you? Well, I can't say that I blame you. She is very beautiful after all. Many men and even a few women lust after her like you wouldn't believe."

"I can understand that," Starrk said. He found that was regaining his composure, albeit slowly. It was reassuring that this girl, at least, understood what was going on. "I mean, she does have a beautiful body, but that's not the only reason, the only thing that captivates me about her."

"Oh? the girl said, her left eyebrow rose slightly. She was rather surprised by his answer, but she wanted to know more about Starrk's intentions. "Well then, what is is about her that you find so captivating?"

"Well, I would have to say... her eyes," Starrk said, blushing. "There's... there's just something about her gaze that captivates me.

"Hmmm, I see. You know, if you're really in love with her, then perhaps you should try to get to know her a little more. Does that help?"

"Uh... yeah... yeah, it does," Starrk said, smiling at her. "Thanks."

"No problem," the girl said, smiling cryptically and heading back to her seat next to her friend.

Starrk smiled. He thought that it was reassuring that at least one of them would take the time to find out about why he stared at the blonde student. Despite this peaceful resolution, the argument between Grimmjow, Mila Rose and Apacci raged on.

"HE'S A MOTHERFUCKING PERVERT!" Apacci roared.

"Stop being such a bitch, Apacci. I've known Starrk for years and he's NOTHING like Spoon Fucker over there!" Grimmjow then pointed to Nnoitora who was too busy looking at the newest issue of Best of Boobies Magazine that he smuggled into school.

"FUCK YOU, GRIMMJOW!" Apacci yelled. "He's been staring at Lady Harribel for more than a WEEK! As far as I'm concerned he IS a fucking pervert!"

The calm, sensible one, watching the debacle, began to think about everything Starrk told her and decided it was best to tell her friend about her admirer's true intentions. She thought that Starrk was sincere in his attentions, so should have at least a chance. Whether or not he would have a chance, however, would be up to her friend.

"Hey, Harribel?" she asked.

"Yes Sung-sun, is something the matter?" Harribel asked.

"Well, you may have noticed that young man over there," she said, pointing to Starrk.

"You mean the one that Mila Rose and Apacci are making all that noise over?"

"Indeed, that's the one."

"Well yeah I've noticed him. He's kinda cute, though a little odd. What about him?"

"Well, I managed to talk to him for a little bit, I think he really likes you. After all he hasn't taken his eyes off of you all week..."

As Sung-Sun continued talking, Harribel couldn't help but smile. She knew about Starrk looking at her long before the others did. She could have sworn she caught him looking at her during the assembly, but she hadn't been sure. It was until the third day of school that she was sure.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him," Harribel said, smilng to Sung-sun. "He seems to be pretty harmless."

"Do want to know what I think Jaggerjaques?" Apacci shouted. "I think he's WORSE than that walking Satellite Dish."

"Are you fucking KIDDING me?" Grimmjow shouted.

Mila Rose had quickly grown bored of the argument, deeming it no longer worth her time. She decided to return to her seat, shaking her head as Grimmjow and Apacci continued their yelling match.

"I wish Apacci would calm down already," Harribel said. "If that guy really was a pervert, then he would have already tried to make his move on me, and he would have failed miserably like the 'Spoon Cheerleader'."

 _Later at Lunch..._

"Aw man bro, I can't believe they ganged up on you like that," Yylfordt said, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

The cafeteria was filled with students who were busy eating their lunches amd talking amongst themselves. Word about the incident in Kyoraku's class had spread among the students like wildfire. Yylfordt decided to sit with Grimmjow and Starrk so they could discuss the events that had transpired earlier. Of course, some nearby students were trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"No shit, that damned Apacci," Grimmjow said, "she ALWAYS does shit like this."

"I swear bro, that girl's a closet case if you know what I mean." Yylfordt said.

"Maybe, but at least the third girl in that group seemed to understand the situation," Starrk said.

"Woah, hold up... Are you saying that you actually got to talk to one of those Amazon wannabes?" Grimmjow asked.

"Well... yeah," Starrk replied. "She simply asked me why I've been staring at her friend, and I told her. She seemed rather surprised by my answer though," he added as an afterthought.

"Yeah, bro, I've been curious about that too. Why have been staring at that babe over there?" Yylfordt asked.

"Well, it's just something about her eyes that intrigue me. I don't know exactly what it is, but that's why I find myself staring at her."

Grimmjow let out a low chuckle at Starrk's answer. It wasn't due simply to the fact that Starrk was a romantic at heart, but because he thought that Starrk was hiding other reasons. He knew Starrk wasn't a pervert, but that didn't stop him from being a straight, physically healthy male of the species.

"Oh come on Starrk, you KNOW you were staring at her figure! You KNOW you want her bod!" Grimmjow said, laughing.

"Eh, you caught me, Grimm," Starrk said, a slight smile forming on his face. "However they were quick glances and it's not her body I'm captivated with."

Grimmjow was about to open his mouth to offer a rebuttal to Starrk's claim, but before he could, Nelliel walked over to them. Grimmjow's mouth simply hung open and he lost his train of thought. She was carrying her lunch, putting it onto their table and sitting next to Starrk.

"Hey Starrk," she said cheerfully. "I heard about the verbal bashing that you got this morning. I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"Hey Nel," Starrk replied, "Don't worry about it, it's over and done with. It's really no big deal," he said in his usual carefree manner.

"I thought it'd still bother you." Nel said.

"Eh, it's all water under the bridge now," Starrk said.

"Well that's good, so, what were you guys talking about?" Nel asked.

Starrk knew that she was obviously curious about the current topic at hand. However, he had a suspicion that she was also curious about what his "verbal bashing" was over. Even though they had been good friends since kindergarten, he wasn't sure he wanted her to know.

Being aware of what kind of guy Grimmjow was, he was waiting for him to say something just to embarass him. For once, however, Grimmjow was stunned into silence, having slipped into the same euphoric trance that Starrk entered whenever he saw Harribel. Starrk raised his eyebrow, watching his friend and wondering what was going through Grimmjow's mind at the moment. He knew Grimmjow had a thing for Nel, but he wasn't going to tell Nel that.

Yylfordt, on the other hand, was filling in Nel on all the juicy details of what they were talking about, mainly Starrk's "verbal bashing". As she listened, she smiled and looked over at Starrk. Starrk felt his face becoming red again.

"Oooooooooooooooooh!" Nel exclaimed. "So li'l Starrkey here has a li'l crush eh?" It was clear that Nel's joy and excitement was growing.

"Oh yeah, bro," Yylfordt added, "He's got it bad, REAL bad."

"Well, come on, Starrkey, who's the lucky lady?" Nel asked, growing more and more excited by every passing minute, "I wanna know all about it!"

Starrk knew that whenever Nel got excited about something, her enthusiasm levels could approach truly frightening levels. He could try to withhold information from her, but Nel always had a way about finding things out with a speed proportionate to her level of interest. Starrk's love live, it would seem, was of the paramount interest to her.

"She's the girl over there," Starrk responded as he pointed towards the table where Harribel and her friends were eating lunch.

"Oooooooh so you've got a little thing for Tia Harribel eh?" Nel asked.

Starrk blushed and nodded his head, then looked at her, shocked that she knew the girl's name. He watched as a very wide grin appear across her face. Starrk also noticed that the certain, mischieveous gleam Nel got whenever an idea pops into her head made an appearance. The last time that look appeared on Nel's face, she was coming up with the idea of dressing Nnoitora in the cheerleader's uniform and tying him to the flagpole.

"So," Nel said. "What? Are you surprised that I know Tia?"

"Well, yeah... I mean, she's a new student and all... and well... I've never seen the two of you hang out before." Starrk said.

"Oh Starrkey, come now, you shouldn't be surprised," Nel said, still smiling. "After all, I've known Tia for a few months now. I met her when she moved here around the end of school last year. In fact, I was one of the first friends she made, aside from Apacci, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun."

Starrk was surprised by the sudden bit of information. Upon further reflection, however, he didn't find it to hard to believe. As long as he had known her, Nelliel Tu Odelschvank was the type of person who could make friends with pratically anyone, so long as they weren't anything like Nnoitra.

"You know, if you want, I could introduce you to her" Nel said.

Even though Nel had that sweet innocent smile that threw many people off guard, Starrk knew something was up when he saw that mischevious look in her eyes. Whether he wanted her to or not, she was going to introduce him. All Starrk could do was nod his head in agreement. His face grew even redder as Nel's grin widened even more as she got up and started walking over to Harribel's table. As soon as she left the table, Grimmjow was able to regain his composure and then noticed the look on Starrk's face.

"Dude, she's gonna introduce you to her, you'd better not fuck this up." he said.

"That's easy for you to say," Starrk muttered, "You're not the one Nel's playing 'matchmaker' for

"Seriously man, this might be good for ya." Grimmjow continued, trying to rally some confidence in his friend.

"Hey Tia," Nel shouted in her usual cheery tone.

"Oh, hey, Nel, how have you been?" Harribel asked.

"Oh, I'm doing great," Nel replied.

"I imagine so. Hey, I saw what you did to that creeper. Great job," Harribel said, smiling.

"Aw, it's no biggie. Nnoitra had it coming and I simply delivered. Anyways, I wanted to introduce you to a very dear friend of mine," Nel explained as she pointed at Starrk.

Apacci looked at Starrk and simply grunted something unintellagable under her breath. Mila Rose on the other hand, tried to supress a giggle after she saw how red Starrk's face was, something she didn't notice when she and Apacci were shouting at him. Mila Rose was the type of girl who thought that guys who blushed a lot were kinda "cute". Sung-Sun merely sighed and remained silent, although she did have a small smile on her face.

"Oh, you mean him? He's the guy who's been looking at me for a little over a week now." Harribel replied.

"See how much he's blushing?" Nel inquired, trying her best not to giggle.

"Yeah," Harribel added, sounding a little nervous. "He does that whenever he looks at me. I thought it was kinda cute at first, but now..."

"Now now, he's not what you think. Starrk's just a tad shy, he's nothing like Private Pervo over there," Nel replied as she gestured at Nnoitra who was sitting with Tesla.

"Well... I'm not sure," Harribel said.

"Don't worry, if that creep tries anything, we'll kick his ass," Appacci added.

Harribel was reluctant at first, but then she recalled what Sung-Sun told her in class. She decided that it might be interesting at least, to talk to her admirer. Plus, she wished to know what he was staring at her. She never got a straight answer from Sung-Sun regarding this matter.

"Oh... alright," Harribel replied as she got out of her seat.

"Oh no... oh crap..." Starrk muttered when he spotted Nel and Harribel walking towards them.

"Come on, dude, get a hold of yourself. She's coming this way," Grimmjow whispered. "You don't want to look like a dumbass."

"Again... that's easy for you to say," Starrk muttered.

"Hey Starrk, this is Tia Harribel," Nel said, a little too gleefully. "Tia, this is Starrk. He and I have been good friends since kindergarten, so I can vouch for him."

"He.. he... hello," Starrk said.

"Um, hello," Harribel replied, glancing at Nel who simply nodded at her. "I've noticed that you've been staring at me for sometime. While I'm flattered that someone like you would notice me like that, I'm a little confused. Why would you spend so much time looking at me?"

"Well, uh.. um..," Starrk replied, trying to regain his composure. "It's... it's just... there's something about you that... that just enchants me."

Harribel looked closer at him. Despite her physical beauty, she was far from lacking in brains. She had heard more than her fair share of pickup lines back at her previous school and here at Hueco Mundo High, especially from the likes of Nnoitra. However before Starrk could continue the conversation, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Come on, bro, we have to get to class," Yylfordt stated, placing a hand on Starrk's shoulder.

"Oh... uh... alright," Starrk replied. "I... I guess I'll see you in class, Harribel."

Before Harribel could respond, Starrk grabbed his bag and rushed out. Grimmjow rolled his eyes and grabbed his own bag before jogging after him. She looked over at Nel who simply shrugged.

"See, I told you he was a bit shy," Nel stated.

"Yeah, you weren't kidding about that," Harribel replied.

"Oh well, at least you have Science with him, right?"

"Yeah... I guess I can ask him about it then."

"I just remembered, isn't today the day when Mr. Urahara assigns lab partners?"

"I think so... why?"

"Well, you might get lucky and Mr. Urahara will pair you up with him. Well, I better get going myself. I don't want to be late for class."

"Ok... sure," Harribel said.

 _Meanwhile with Grimmjow..._

"Gah... Damn it, Starrk, way to blow it man!" Grimmjow muttered under his breath.

While Starrk was heading to Urahara's Science class, Grimmjow was heading to Ukitake's History class. Grimmjow couldn't believe that Starrk choked and lost his composure. He only wanted the best for his friend, but he felt that Starrk had missed an excellent opportunity. As such, Grimmjow was in a rather foul mood, and it was only going to get worse as he saw an all too familiar student at their locker.

"Well, well, well," Grimmjow said. "If it isn't the Emperor of the Bats, how's it going your majesty?"

"Stifle yourself, Grimm-Kitty," Ulquiorra replied in his usual monotone voice. "I have far more important things to do than focus my time on trash like you."

"Kiss my ass, Emo!" Grimmjow snapped. "Or perhaps you'd like to blow me."

"How vulgar..." Ulquiorra replied.

"Stop being such an arrogant li'l rich bitch Zombie Boy. Oh... that's right... you've always been a li'l rich bitch with no personality, and you'll always be such."

"And you will always be a pathetic little dirt-eating bumpkin, living in a shack. Now then, you will excuse me, Sir Blueberry Muffin, I must get to class."

This little exchange only infuriated Grimmjow even more. As Ulquiorra made his way to Urahara's class, Grimmjow headed to Ukitake's class. He was so irritated by Starrk blowing his chance and now Ulquiorra's insults that he failed to pay any attention to his surroundings.

"That motherfucking, walking, little pile of bat shit. Who the hell does he think he is? He thinks he's better than the rest of us... one of these days... I'll show him..." Grimmjow muttered.

Grimmjow fumed his way down the hall. He was mumbling about all of the things he wanted to do to Ulquiorra and failed to see the girl in front of him. They collided and both Grimmjow and the girl were knocked to the floor. The girl's books came flying out of her hands and crashed onto the floor, a few of them striking Grimmjow on the head. Grimmjow got up, rubbing his head and having finally had enough, wanted to snap. He opened his mouth to shout, but when he saw that the girl he ran into was Nelliel, he remained silent.

"Ow... that hurt," Nel said, looking up at Grimmjow.

"Oh... uh... I'm... are you alright? You know, you should watch where you're going."

"Ha! You're a fine one to talk. You're the one who ran into me."

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry," Grimmjow said and helped Nel up off the floor. He then proceeded to pick up her books. "So... anyways... I never caught your name."

"That means that you weren't listening when I was talking with Starrk. Well... I certainly hope you're listening now. My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschvank, but you can just call me 'Nel' for short, okay?"

Nel held out her hand to Grimmjow and he took her hand and shook it.

"I'm... uh... my name's Sir Blueberry Muffin... SHIT!"

Grimmjow could not believe he had introduced himself to Nel with one of Ulquiorra's ridiculous nicknames for him. He felt a rather odd combination of confusion and embarrassment. Nel, however, was unable to control her giggling. She was amused at Grimmjow's embarrassment, which only further embarrassed the normally confident Grimmjow.

"Surely that's not your actual name," Nel replied, still giggling.

"It's not, that's just something Batman calls me," Grimmjow replied.

"Oh, I see, so you know the Caped Crusader?"

"Not that Batman, I meant Ulquiorra."

"Oh, that's too bad, I would have liked to meet the Dark Knight sometime. So... what's your real name?"

"It's Grimmjow, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, but my friends call me 'Grimm' sometimes."

"Well... Grimm... I'm heading for Mr. Ukitake's History class and I'm kinda running a wee bit late."

"Oh man, funny you should mention that I've got the same class next. Mind if I walk with you?"

"Sure, I don't mind at all. You seem kinda a nice in a rough and off-beat kinda way. Plus, you're one of Starrkey's buddies, and a friend of Starrk's is a friend of mine."

Grimmjow wasn't sure how to respond. However, the smile on Nel's face told him that he probably struck something.

"Well... we'd better get going," Nel said. "We don't wanna be late."

"Yeah, and we better hope like hell we don't run into Rudobon and his squad of 'Exequias'." Grimmjow replied. With that, the two walked side by side towards Ukitake's History class.

 _Elsewhere with Starrk..._

"Alright class, now that we've gotten into the swing of things, I think it's time that I announce your assigned lab partners," Mr. Urahara announced. "Now, bear in mind that you will have the same lab partner for the entirety of the school year."

Hearing this announcement cause quite a bit of excitement. Starrk looked at Harribel, hoping that he would be assigned with her. The first pair that was formed was Avirama and Findor. The duo gave each other high fives.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Avirama cried out. "I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS!"

"EXACTA!" Findor shouted out.

"Alright, settle down you two," Urahara replied, waving his fan at them. "Alright, the next pair will be Ulquiorra and Sung-Sun."

Ulquiorra was surprised to find himself paired with one of Harribel's friends, but he simply shrugged it off. Sung-Sun however was pleasantly surprised and blushed slightly. Very few knew that she had a small crush on the pale complected student since middle school, but knowing his standing in life and the rumor that he already had a significant other, she never tried to pursue him. She still enjoyed the fact that he was her lab partner though. With Ulquiorra she could at least get her assignments completed with little to no distractions.

"Alright, moving right along, Mila Rose, you'll be partnered with Ggio."

"WHAT?!" The two shouted simultainiously.

"Now, now," Urahara replied, waving his fan at them. "I'm well aware of how much you like to argue. This might actually be a good thing for you. You never know, you might actually get along."

"Pfft, yeah, right." Ggio snarled.

"No way that's gonna happen," Mila Rose grunted.

"Anyways," Urahara announced. "Shawlong, you'll be paired with Yylfordt."

"Right on bro," Yylfordt said, attempting to give Shawlong a high five.

"Do not call me 'bro'," Shawlong said, clearly not pleased.

"Continuing forward, our next pair will be Nakeem and Di Roy."

When Urahara announced that the two school idiots would be working together in lab, the other students began to feel really uneasy. Ulquiorra simply stared at the apparently deranged teacher and began eyeing the exits, preparing for the eventual explosion/mutation. Urahara continued to list the pairs and he paused at the final two, thinking and then nodding to himself.

"Alright, our next pairing will be Nirgge and Edorad. That brings us to our final duo: Starrk and Harribel," he stated, with a slight grin on his face.

Starrk was excited about being paired with Harribel, but he was also rather nervous. On one hand, it was a great opportunity for him to learn more about her, but on the other hand, it would give her friends plenty of reasons to yell at him and threaten him. He saw Yylfordt grinning at him and giving a thumbs-up while Mila Rose glowered at him.

Harribel looked at Starrk. She had to admit that from what she saw of him, he was one of the calmer students that attended Hueco Mundo High. For some reason, though, he was obviously shy around her. Harribel thought that this would provide the perfect opportunity to find out why. All that Sung-Sun told her was that she thought Starrk liked her, but she wanted to know why, which meant spending this time to learn more about her lab partner.

"Alright, now that we got that taken care of... are there any questions?" Urahara asked.

"Yes," Ulquiorra replied. "Why... in the name of all that is holy... did you put... THOSE TWO TOGETHER?!"

Ulquiorra pointed to Di Roy and Nakeem, who were laughing continuously.

"Huh huh huh, we get to blow things up, huh huh huh," Nakeem said inbetween bouts of laughter.

"And burn stuff! Heh heh heh FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! heh heh" Di Roy shouted.

"Oh... I'm just curious to see how those two will fare. That's all," Urahara replied.

"You are aware that if they happen to burn down the school, you will be held responsible, right?" Ulquiorra inquired.

"EXACTA!" Findor cried out.

"Now, now, why would a handsome, sexy and young Science teacher like me be held responsible for a small accident?" Urahara asked in response.

"EXACTA!" Findor shouted again.

Starrk felt uneasy about the sly and mischievous smile on Urahara's face. From what he heard from his Uncle Shun, Kisuke Urahara was not like most teachers when it came to dealing with students like Nakeem and Di Roy. While other teachers would make sure that if there was even the slightest chance of danger, they would make sure the two were separated or not even participate. Urahara, on the other hand, preferred to have them learn the hard way: if they didn't listen, then they would have to deal with the consequences. However, Starrk had a suspicion that Urahara did it for his own rather twisted sense of amusement.

While Ulquiorra continued to question Urahara's sanity, Harribel observed her other prospects for lab partners. She quickly found that Starrk really was the best option. He would probably be more fun to work with than the over-calculating Ulquiorra, nor would he try anything funny on her like Ggio would. She didn't even want to consider a thought about being paired with either Di Roy or Nakeem.

"Your concerns are much appreciated, Mr. Schiffer," Urahara stated. "But, I think everything will be fine. Anyways, I would like you to get with your lab partners. The first lab exercise you'll be doing together is on pages 5 to 8 in your lab books. Alright, you will have the remainder of the class to work on your assignment."

When Urahara finished speaking, the students got up from their seats to meet with their lab partners. Everyone made sure to get a table as far away from Di Roy and Nakeem as they could.

"So... um," Starrk spoke, nervously as he walked to Harribel's table. "Looks like we're lab partners."

"Yeah," Harribel replied. "Although, before we begin our assignment, let's finish our little conversation."

"What conversation?"

"The one we had at lunch. You told me that you found something enchanting about me. What I would like to know is: what is it about me that you find so captivating?"

"Oh... that, well... I..." Starrk muttered, blushing. He thought about it for a moment and then he found the courage to answer her. "It's your eyes. You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, and there's something about them that I find enthralling."

Harribel was surprised at his response. She had never met a guy who told her that her eyes were the reason for their attentions. She had expected Starrk to be like so many other men she encountered before and only be interested in her body or other stereotypical male observations. Sometmes guys would tell her that they were "attracted to her mind" but in reality they simply wanted her for her body. She looked at Starrk, searching for any of the tell-tale signs that her mother told her to watch out for. However, she didn't see any of those signs.

"You're captivated by my eyes? Why would you say that?"

"Well... because, your eyes exude an air of serenity. When I look into your eyes, I see more than a young woman who is physically beautiful and strong, but someone who is intelligent and who cares for others above herself."

Harribel felt a surge of heat across her face. She just couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was so unlike her previous experiences with men that she was taken back. If not for the sincerity conveyed in his words, Starrk's comments would seem to be the same empty praise she had encountered so many times before.

She couldn't help but smile a little bit. This was the first time she had encountered someone who seemed to adore her for her heart and mind, and not just for her physical appearance. For the first time in a long time, she felt comfortable around a guy. This was a massive leap forward for her, especially since she had previously been in a relationship that was absolutely hellish. Little did she know that Starrk, too, had a previous relationship that was very toxic. As the class continued, the two became more comfortable around each other, the initial awkwardness dissipating quickly.

Sung-Sun looked over at Harribel and Starrk and smiled. She wanted to run over to Harribel and Starrk and hug them both. Even though she didn't know Starrk that well, she thought, overall, that he was a good man. She felt that Harribel deserved a man like him, and so chose to keep many details about him to herself. Despite Harribel wanting her to explain things in more detail, Sung-Sun decided not to. She wanted Harribel to get to know Starrk by any means necessary at this point.

"They look so adorable together," Sung-Sun muttered.

"Hmmm... what are you mumbling about?", Ulquiorra muttered quietly.

"Oh... ummm," Sung-Sun replied, slightly blushing, "I was just saying that Lady Harribel and Starrk look like they're getting along."

"Hmmm, so it would seem. How... interesting... Now then, let us proceed to step 14 and be sure to take notes on the outcome."

"Indeed," Sung-Sun replied. "That way we can reach our overall conclusions for the experiment."

"Agreed," Ulquiorra said as he added the last group of chemicals. The two watched as the chemical reaction took place and took very detailed notes on their observation.

Mila Rose stopped arguing with Ggio over what to do at step seven in the lab exercise long enough to observe Harribel and Starrk. She could not understand how Harribel could become so comfortable around him so quickly. She would have to explain things to Apacci, because if Sung-Sun's expression was anything to go by, she wouldn't be of any help. The mere thought of going to Apacci to help her with anything made her sick to her stomach. However, her pride and her rivalry with Apacci took back seat to protecting their friend.

At their corner table, Di Roy and Nakeem decided that they wanted to do their own little "experiment". They picked up random chemicals and metals to see what "nifty colors" they could make. When Nirgge and Edorad saw what was going on, they immediately backed away, and it was good they did. Shortly after their "experiment" began, they succeeded in blowing up most of their table.

"Woah!" Nakeem exclaimed, "That was cool!"

"Heh heh heh! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! HEH! HEH! Di Roy shrieked in delight.

"OH, SO THAT'S HOW YOU WANNA PLAY?" Avirama shouted. "WE'RE GONNA BEAT YA! WE'RE GONNA BEAT YA! YOU CALL THAT AN EXPLOSION? THAT AIN'T CRAP! C'MON FINDOR, LET'S SHOW THESE TWO GOONS WHAT WE'RE MADE OF!"

EXACTA!" Findor shouted in agreement.

"SHIT!" Mila Rose and Ggio shrieked simultainously and took cover under their table as another explosion occured, this time from Findor and Avirama's table.

"YEAH! TAKE THAT BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD! WE BEAT YA!" Avirama shouted.

"EXACTA!"

"THAT TEARS IT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU BOTH!" Ggio yelled.

"NOT BEFORE I DO!" Mila Rose shouted.

Urahara reached under his desk and brought out his fire extinguisher. His grin was even wider than it was before. Di Roy and Nakeem were laughing even harder and Avirama proceeded to perform his "ritual", which consisted of nothing more than jumping and shouting.

"Those fools are trying to kill us all..." Shawlong said.

Yylfordt didn't bother paying any attention to what Shawlong said. He was looking over at Harribel and Starrk who were watching the chaos that unfolded as a result of the actions of the two teams of lab partners. He smiled when he saw that the tips of their fingers were touching.

"Way to go, bro," he whispered to himself. "It's about time."

 _Meanwhile with Grimmjow..._

"Alright, class," Ukitake announced. "Over the year, you will be assigned class exercises that will require another pair of hands. I have already made up the list of 'study buddies' and who the pairs will be for the year."

Grimmjow was intrigued by this idea of Ukitake's, for he was sitting next to Nel. Ever since the "Spoon Cheerleader" incident, he had begun to develop feelings for her. However, he wasn't quite sure what exactly these feelings were. All he knew was that there was something special about her. Grimmjow quickly found himself wishing that he would be paired up with Nel.

"Alright, let's see. The first pair of 'study buddies is Tesla with Apacci."

Tesla looked up in shock and horror, then he glanced over at Apacci. Apacci was glaring at him.

"If you even think about touching me... I'll fucking kill you," she stated, still giving Tesla a death glare.

"This should be very interesting," Nel whispered.

"Yeah, no shit," Grimmjow replied. "I wonder what will come first? Apacci killing Tesla or Tesla killing himself since he can't be with Spoonhead."

"Alright, our next pairing is Szayel Aporro and Charles Cuuhlhourne..."

"AHEM! That's Charlotte Cuuhlhourne, Mr. Ukitake."

"Oh, sorry, I meant Szayel Aporro Grantz and Charlotte Cuuhlhourne," Ukitake replied as he corrected his slight error. He double checked to make sure the roster said "Charlotte Cuuhlhourne."

"Much better," Cuuhlhourne replied as he looked at Szayel Aporro. "Oh GOD, I have to be paired up with THAT philistine? He has no sense of beauty what so ever!"

Szayel Aporro, however, was too busy working on another one of his inventions to even notice that he was paired with Cuuhlhourne. Ukitake simply smiled at them and read the next pairing: Grimmjow and Nelliel. Grimmjow was surprised, pleasantly surprised of course. This would give him the opportunity to spend more time with her.

"Well, Grimm," Nel said nudging him in the shoulder with her elbow, "looks like you and I are gonna be spending a lot more time with each other. Think you can handle it?"

"Oh yeah, I know I can handle it," Grimmjow replied, smiling. Grimmjow was the kind of guy who didn't mind being with a strong woman. Even if it meant taking a few playful jabs or a few knocks on the head. Ukitake finished reading off the pairings with the final pair being Yammy and Poww.

"Hmmm... you know... I wonder how Szayel Aporro will react when finds out his parter is Cuuhlhourne," Nel said, putting her right forefinger under her chin and glancing up at the ceiling.

"Oh God..." Grimmjow replied, laughing, "The look on his face will be PRICELESS! I can hear him now: 'Dear GOD WHY? Why do I have to be with THAT monstrosity? He's nothing more than an over grown clown with no sense of fashion at all!,'" Grimmjow added, performing a rather good impression of Szayel Aporro.

Nel couldn't control herself at that point and she ended up going into a laughing fit. If there was one thing Nel enjoyed, it was a good laugh. After all that was one of the reasons she was friends with Starrk and his younger sister Lilynette. Of course Grimmjow enjoyed a good joke as well, but it usually came at the expense of Szayel Aporro or Ulquiorra.

Though the chosen pair of Szyael Aporro and Cuuhlhourne was a potential nightmare, Nnoitra perhaps had the worst luck. He was assigned to a fairly effeminate looking and very flamboyant, sadistic student known as Luppi Antenor. Unfortunately, the "Spoon Wonder" failed to realize that Luppi was in fact a male.

"Heh, heh, hey there sweet cheeks," Nnoitra said, a smirk clearly visible on his face. "What do you say that we get to know each other a little better? How about you and me get together and have a real wild time tonight?"

Luppi looked at Nnoitra as the lanky student made his proposition. He initially wanted to tell him that he was actually a guy, but then he came up with rather nasty idea. Luppi had gained a reputation for his mean streak and got a sick kick out of making people miserable. Some even said that he actually got a sexual thrill out of it. He viewed of Nnoitra's advances as a perfect opportunity to have some real fun.

"Oh my..." Luppi replied, giving the "Hooded Horror" a rather seductive smirk in return. "I would simply LOVE to go out with you tonight, Nnoitra. You're just so tall, dark, and sexy. I find you TOTALLY irresistable."

"Aw yeah... someone's gettin' lucky tonight!" Nnoitra shouted as he made pelvic thrusting motions, pumping his fist in the air at the same time.

Grimmjow laughed like a hyena at the exchange taking place between Nnoitra and Luppi. Nel glanced at him, confused and then over towards Nnoitra and Luppi.

"Grimm, why are you laughing? Aren't you worried for that poor girl?" Nel asked. "Knowing Nnoitra, she might get hurt or worse, raped."

"Nah, I wouldn't worry to much about Luppi. I'd worry more about Nnoitra's sanity after tonight." Grimmjow replied, trying his best to control his laughter.

"What are you talking about?" Nel asked, still confused.

"Well... you see..." Grimmjow replied, and then burst out into more laughter. "Luppi... Luppi's not really a girl, he's actually a dude. Nobody... hahahahaha... nobody even bothered to tell Baron Overbite over there that critical piece of information."

Nel looked at Grimmjow, her eyes wide and then she joined him in a fit of wild laughter. She knew all too well just how much of a pervert Nnoitra was. Nel just couldn't hold in the hysterics thinking about the look on Nnoitra's face when he would eventually learn that Luppi was in fact male.

Elsewhere in the classroom, Szyael Aporro was still tinkering around with his newest invention.

"AT LAST, MY LATEST WORK IS COMPLETED!" Szayel Aporro shouted. "And this time... this time I shall not be made to look like a laughing stock."

He beheld the pair of goggles in his hand that he labeled as "The Pleasant Sight Goggles" and then put them on. They were not only a perfect fit, but they also seemed to actually work. The "Pleasant Sight Goggles" had the ability to make everything the wearer saw fit his or her aesthetic tastes. Unfortunately, it worked too well, for it also affected the other senses as well. It caused the wearer to smell what they thought were pleasant smells and it caused them to hear what they thought were pleasent sounds.

Soon Szayel Aporro was face to face with the most beautiful, stunning girl his eyes had ever beheld. The girl smelled of his mother's perfume and bore long, full purple hair which shined in the light. He felt his heart skip a beat just being in her presence.

"Oh, Szayel," the girl said in a rather musical tone, "We're supposed to be lab partners."

"Oh, but of course," Szayel replied, "It would be a pleasure to work with such a beautiful young lady such as yourself."

Szayel then took the "girl's" hand and kissed it. Just as his lips touched the back of his partner's hand, Yammy looked towards him, eyes widening in horror as he saw what Szayel was doing.

"GOOD GOD MAN!" Yammy shouted in a frightened tone. "SZAYEL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TAKE OFF THE GOGGLES!"

Szayel Aporro was confused by Yammy's request, but he simply shrugged it off. He thought of it as nothing more than an attempt at a pratical joke by a "simpleton". However when Poww walked past, he simply grunted and took the goggles off of Szayel Aporro. The boy genius blinked and looked around. He saw that the beautiful girl was gone, and in her place stood Cuuhlhourne smirking at him.

"WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?" Szayel Aporro shouted, clearly infuriated. "WHERE'S MEIN QUEEN BUTTERFLY?"

"Oh honey, I'm afraid that I'M your 'Queen Butterfly', my dorky little friend," Cuuhlhourne replied, winking and blowing a kiss to Szayel Aporro.

The entire class erupted in laughter at the ridiculous scene taking place. Ukitake tried to calm everyone down but ended up having another coughing fit and had to step out of the room.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Your invention might have actually worked, but you're still a failure Nerd Boy," Nnoitra bellowed, laughing like a lunatic. What he didn't realize however that he would be in for his own little "rude awakening" at the hands of Luppi.

When Ukitake returned, he was able to get the class to settle down. However, Szayel Apporo was still angered at Cuuhlhourne's "deception" and still hadn't calmed down. Mr. Ukitake had to enlist the aid of Yammy and Poww to finally settle down the agitated boy genius.

"Hey man, I tried to tell ya." Yammy said, restraining the ranting Szayel. "At least your gizmo works."

"Hmmmm..." Szayel Aporro thought, "This is true, the Pleasant Sight Goggles DO indeed function properly..."

After that little thought, Szayel Aporro finally settled down and Ukitake could proceed with his class. Before long the bell rang once more, signaling the end of class. Ukitake gave out the class assignment before the students left for their next class.

"Now, now," Ukitake said as he heard some collective groaning from the students. "I don't like giving out homework either, but I have to do my job. Look at the bright side, this will be a great way for you all to get to know your 'study buddies'."

"What the hell's up with you, Blue Balls?" Nnoitra shouted, seeing a grin appear on Grimmjow's face. "The fuck you smiling about? I thought you of all people hated homework."

"First off, you're a fine one to talk about blue balls, Piano Mouth, second, you'd be smiling too if you were paired up with a hottie like Nelliel Tu Odelschvank."

"Listen up you fucking pussy," Nnoitra replied, sounding angry. "I saw that bitch first, so if you know what's good for you, you keep away, or else I'll make you pay. She's gonna be one of my sluts."

Unfortunately for Nnoitra, Nel was close enough to hear him. Even though she usually had a gentle nature and was easily able to take a joke and good-natured ribbings, she had her limits, especially when it came to people like Nnoitra. She walked up to them and they glanced over at her.

"Excuse me, Nnoitra," she stated plainly, and Grimmjow immediately noticed that her usual cheery tone had been replaced with one that was far more serious. "I was curious, WHAT exactly did you call me?"

"You heard me, BITCH!" Nnoitra replied. "Whether you like it or not, you're gonna be one of my little pets."

Grimmjow's rage grew at each word coming from Nnoitra's mouth. Hearing Nnoitra mock and insult a girl with whom he had his own sights on was more than the self proclaimed "Punk" could take. He was about to beat the stuffing out of the tall and lanky student. However, before he could make a move, Nel struck. She kicked Nnoitra in the groin and then followed up with a headbutt that winded the Stunned Spoon. As he fell to his knees, Nel punched him in the nose with enough force to break it. Nnoitra cluched his nose with one hand but blood could be seen tricking through his fingers.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Nnoitra shrieked with rage. "TESLA!"

Grimmjow, remembering Nnoitra's toady, turned around, preparing to hold the guy back if necessarry. However, he didn't need to worry about him, for he saw that Yammy and Apacci were restraining the struggling student.

"Please, let me go. I have to help Master Nnoitra." Tesla said.

"Oh no you don't... I heard what he called Nel. Nobody and I damn well mean NOBODY makes fun of a friend of Lady Harribel and gets away with it," Apacci replied.

"Uh... yeah... sure whatever," Yammy added. "Hey Grimmjow, what should I do with him?"

"Just keep holding him back, Yammy," Grimmjow said and turned back to face Nel and Nnoitra.

Nnoitra got up to retaliate, and Grimmjow was preparing to jump in, but it wasn't necessarry. Nel had things well under control, she leapt into the air and kicked Nnoitra in the same spot she had headbutted him. When she landed she grabbed hold of him by his nipples and planted one foot firmly on his groin. Nnoitra's face contorted into pain. Seeing his master in such despair and pain was too much for the struggling Tesla to take. His struggle was in vain, however, for Yammy and Apacci kept a tight grip on him.

"Listen to me," Apacci whispered into Tesla's ear. "You didn't do anything wrong, that's why I'm not gonna beat the shit out of you. However, if you don't stop struggling, I'll make damn sure you're in a wheelchair for a month or more. Got it?"

Tesla couldn't say anything and only nodded his head. Apacci felt a slight twinge of pity for the poor guy, but it was his own fault for associating with someone like Nnoitra.

"Now then, Nnoitra, if you'll be a good little boy and apologize, then I'll let go," Nel said. Her face, once again, had that mischievous grin and her eyes suddenly flashed.

"FUCK YOU!" Nnoitra shouted out in pain.

"Oooh, sorry, but that's not an apology," Nel replied.

She then tightened her grip on Nnoitra's nipples and began to turn her wrist, twisting them. Grimmjow simply stood still and watched as the spectacle unfolded. As he watched Nelliel make Nnoitra squirm, he found himself falling even harder for her.

"Come on, Nnoitra, say 'uncle'. Say 'uncle' and apologize and I'll..." she stated, squeezing his nipples tighter and twisting them even harder, "...let you go."

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT ALREADY! UNCLE! UNCLE! I GIVE!" Nnoitra shouted, having reached his limit. "Now let go."

"I'm still waiting on that apology," Nel added, still twisting his nipples and putting more pressure on the foot currently squishing Nnoitra's groin.

"Okay... okay... I... I'm sorry," Nnoitra gasped in pain.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry I called you a 'Bitch' and a 'Slut'. Now... now please... let go."

"Well... I DID say that I would let you go," Nel replied and released her grip on Nnoitra and removed her foot from his groin.

Nnoitra limped away from her, looking back in fear that Nel might attack him again. However she just stood there as Nnoitra ran or rather attempted to run down the hall.

"Sorry about that, Grimm," Nel said.

"Huh? What?" Grimmjow replied, still in a state of euphoric trance.

"MASTER NNOITRA!" Tesla screamed.

"Oh..." Grimmjow replied, snapping out of his trance. "I forgot about that guy. Hey, Yammy, Apacci, I think it's safe to let him go now, he's harmless."

Yammy and Apacci released the struggling student who rushed down the hall in pursuit of his "Master". Nel followed Tesla's path and looked genuinely sorry for the mild mannered student. Grimmjow had to admit that he too felt pity for Tesla.

"Well... anyways, I'm sorry about that Grimm. It's just Nnoitra really irritates me."

"Eh... don't worry about it. I'd have taken care of that assclown easily," Grimmjow replied boldly. "Though, I have to admit, it was hot watching you totally humiliate him like that."

Nel giggled after hearing him say that and Grimmjow couldn't help but noticed that she was blushing a little. Nelliel was not a violent person by nature and would never use violence as a method to get her way. However, if someone threatend her or one of her friends, then she was more than willing to get rough.

This was the first time that Grimmjow had seen this side of Nelliel, but it was old news to Starrk. Later that day, when Grimmjow told Starrk about Nelliel's surprising fighting prowess, Starrk would tell him that he was wise not to get involved.

Starrk chuckled at the memories. "Whenever she gets that look on her face, it's best to keep your distance. Otherwise you might end up the recipient of 'Friendly Fire' by pure accident of course." After Starrk said that, Grimmjow was glad Starrk told him to stay put and not go out into the hall that first day.

"Well... I'd better get going," Nel said. "I don't want to be late for another class. Plus, I REALLY need to wash my hands before they have to be amputated. I'll see you later," She smiled at winked at him before making a dash towards the nearest bathroom.

"Sure thing," Grimmjow said as she went to go disinfect herself from the taint of the Spoon.

"Man..." Grimmjow thought to himself as he started making his way towards his next class, "I hate it when she leaves... but DAMN do I love the way she walks."

 _Back with Starrk and Harribel..._

Once Urahara's Science class was over, Starrk and Harribel decided to walk together as they traveled to their next and final class for the day.

"I wonder what that strange noise was about?" Harribel asked, curious about the event that transpired earlier.

"What noise?" Starrk replied.

"That strange screaming earlier." Harribel replied.

"Oh... That..." Starrk added, "I've no idea, but I have a strange feeling that Nnoitra guy is involved somehow."

"Oh dear," Harribel added, concerned for any female unfortunate enough to cross Nnoitra's path. "I hope he hasn't been causing some poor young girl any problems."

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it." Starrk replied, doing his best to reassure Harribel.

Harribel, noticing Starrk beginning to nod off a little, lightly nudged Starrk in his side and Starrk looked at her, slightly surprised.

"Since when did you start becoming like Lilynette?"

"Who's Lilynette?"

"Lilynette, she's my little sister."

"Oh, does she have short, light blonde hair and pink eyes?"

"Yeah, that's her. Do you know her by any chance?"

"I saw her the first day of school, during PE class. She was watching you get chased around by that adorable little girl."

"Ugh... I've been trying to forget about that."

"So, her name's Lilynette?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmmm, I wouldn't mind getting to know her a little better," Harribel replied.

"That'd be great, I'm more than sure you two will hit it off."

The two continued walking towards their next classes. Starrk had Algebra II with Miss Ise while Harribel had art with Mr. Ayasegawa. However both still had plenty of time to get to their respective classes. Harribel had even more time to spare since Yumichika Ayasegawa was known to be "fashionably late" for his classes.

"So... uh... out of curiosity, are you doing anything Saturday?" Starrk asked.

"Not that I know of, why?" Harribel replied.

"Well... I was thinking... um... uh... would... would you like to hang out?"

"Are... are you asking me out on a date?"

"Huh... what... no... well... I dunno... I.. I... was thinking it would be fun. Plus we can work on our homework and..."

Harribel couldn't help but giggle at Starrk as his face turned a deep shade of tomato red. He brushed his hand through his hair and he allowed his blue-grey eyes to look around.

"It sounds like fun," Harribel said, smiling.

"Really, well... in that case, how about I pick you up around 1, sound good?" Starrk asked, still blushing.

"Sounds great, but let me give you my address first," Harribel replied as she took out a slip of paper and a pen. After she wrote her address down, she folded the piece of paper and handed it to Starrk.

"Uh... Thanks," Starrk said.

"You're welcome, well I'd better get to my next class. I'll see you later Starrk," she replied, smiling a bit as she started walking towards the art room.

"Sure thing, Bel," Starrk replied as he made his own way to Miss Ise's class. He didn't see Harribel stop and turn around with an expression of shock on her face.

When she heard Starrk call her "Bel" she couldn't help but stop and stare at him. Harribel soon realized she was blushing. She was surprised that Starrk would even think to call her by that name. She also realized that she didn't seem to mind Starrk calling her "Bel", even though that was only reserved for her family or her closest friends. She couldn't understand why she was allowing Starrk to become an exception to this rule.

Thoughout her art class, Harribel continued to think about Starrk calling her "Bel" and how that made her feel inside. Over the course of the school week, Tia Harribel showed that she possessed a great deal of artistic talent. Despite having a radically different aesthetic value, Yumichika continually praised her work and would even display some of her drawings and paintings on the wall. Despite the other gaudy decorations, her work stood out and many of the students would find themselves staring at her pieces as opposed to Yumichika's very flamboyant decorations.

While she continued to think about the reasons why Starrk was becoming so special to her, she managed to sketch out a Victorian-era gentleman. Something particular about this gentleman was that he had shoulder-length unkempt hair and his chin had a faded goatee. When Tia noticed what she was sketching, she immediately started to blush. She looked around the room to see if anyone had noticed what she'd drawn. She was about to put it away when the drawing was taken from her. Harribel looked up and saw Yumichika examining her sketch.

"Hmmm... interesting subject..." he said, smiling slightly, and put it face-down on her desk.

Even though Yumichika was as vain as the peacocks he so adored, he was a romantic at heart. As if it were a "sixth sense" of sorts, he always seemed to know when a student was in love, and he saw that Harribel was clearly in love with someone. When he saw Harribel's subject and the slight shade of red across her face. He knew immediately that she was falling in love with Starrk.

"Now..." he said to himself, "If only she'd turn her focus to peacocks"

Meanwhile, in Algebra 2, Starrk was sleeping, as usual, and Miss Ise was begining to become very annoyed by it. Many of the other students noticed that as Starrk slept, he had a slight smile across his face. Most of these, including Shawlong, simply dismissed it as him simply having a peaceful nap. However a few others, such as Yylfordt thought that he was having very pleasant dreams about a certain girl. Miss Ise, clearly annoyed, had enough of Starrks napping. She walked over to his desk and slammed her book down. Starrk woke up although his eyes were barely open.

"Mr. Starrk," She stated, "since you slept through the lecture, you perhaps thought that you didn't need to hear me explain about how to find the values for unknown variables. Would you care to answer, for the class, the problem on the board?"

She pointed to the problem on the board. It was a fairly lengthy word problem, complete with an equally lengthy math forumla. It was one of those problems that involved finding the solutions to x and y to reach the final answer. Starrk barely glanced at it before dropping his head back down to his desk.

"14.98 or 15 if you round it up," he muttered before returning to the blissful realm of his dreams.

Miss Ise looked at him, her mouth a gape. She rushed to her notes to check his answer and see if he was correct. Much to her surprise and annoyance, he was. She, once again, looked at Starrk, still sleeping, and so shocked was she that she completely ignored the sounds of most of her students giggling and snickering among themselves. Shawlong looked at Starrk, his eyes wide, but he was quite impressed since the only other students who could have solved a problem like that in such a quick time were either Szayel Aporro Grantz or Ulquiorra Schifer. Once Miss Ise recovered from her slight embarrassment, she continued with her class, explaining how one could reach the answer for the problem that Starrk gave.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class and the school day as a whole, Miss Ise couldn't help but look at Starrk as he left. She then looked at the problem on the board and shook her head.

"Everytime... how does he do that?" she asked herself, still confused.

 _At the Parking Lot..._

The students left the school in varying degrees of chaos and order. Starrk met up with Lilynette, who was in her usual chipper and mischievous mood. As he walked out, he saw Grimmjow hanging out by the front door, as if he was waiting on someone. As Harribel made her way to her car, she saw Starrk and Lilynette, the latter whom she immediately recognized from her first day. Lilynette looked around and saw Momo talking with Kiyone.

"Hey, Starrk, I'm gonna go chat with Momo and Kiyone for a bit," she said as she dashed towards them.

"Okay, but don't wander off too far, alright?" Starrk replied, keeping and eye on his younger sister who was waving at her two friends. "So," Starrk said as he leaned up against the wall next to Grimmjow, "what are you still doing here? I'd have thought you'd be long gone by now."

"Well... I... er... I wanted to meet up with Nel after school. Why are you asking?" Grimmjow asked, slightly annoyed.

"Oh... I see" Starrk replied as he winked at Grimmjow, "I kinda figured that you had the hots for Nel. Would I be right?"

"Oh shut up, Lone Wolf," Grimmjow growled. "You're no better with that blonde girl."

Starrk blushed slightly at that, and Grimmjow smiled. After a few seconds, Starrk regained his composure.

"Eh... just treat her right, man. She's an old friend of mine, and I would hate to have to beat you up if you did anything to hurt her, not that she'd really need me to do so."

"Heh, Starrk, you know me better than that." Grimmjow replied, "I don't treat gals like Senor Satellite does."

"I know." Starrk replied.

Grimmjow noticed Starrk had one of his hands in his pocket and immediately a spark of curiosity entered his mind.

"Well well well..." Grimmjow began, "Whatcha got in your pockets Starrk? Inquiring minds want to know."

Starrk blushed again at Grimmjow's question.

"Er... it's nothing, nothing at all."

"Bullshit!" Grimmjow replied, "I bet you got that blonde girl's number didn't you?"

Starrk's blush grew deeper and Grimmjow smirked at the sight before him, though if his suspicions were correct, then he couldn't help but be happy for his friend. Reluctantly, Starrk removed his hand from his pocket and showed Grimmjow the slip of paper Harribel gave him, however he didn't show him what Harribel wrote.

"Well I'll be a son of a monkey!" Grimmjow exclaimed, "You actually went and pulled it off, and here I thought you fucked it up, you sly old dog you."

"Yeah..." Starrk replied, still blushing a bit, "We... we were... we were thinking of getting together this weekend..."

Grimmjow's smirk grew even wider as Starrk explained the events that had transpired through out the day, including mentioning the makeshift explosion war that Nakeem, Di Roy, Avirama, and Findor had engaged in. Grimmjow was pleased that one of his closest friends was finally moving on from what had to be one of the darker times in his life.

"Come on Grimm, it's not for what you think, it's mainly for school purposes," Starrk added, noticing the smirk. "Though we were also thinking of hitting up the mall later on that afternoon."

"Oh man, dude, hangin' out at the mall? It's TOTALLY a date!" Grimmjow replied. "How could it NOT be?"

"Well, maybe because Bel and I just met?" Starrk said.

"Seriously! Don't sell yourself short man." Grimmjow replied. "Just go with the flow and see how things pan out. Long as you don't act like Commander Assclown or the Stuck up Bat, she'll like you."

Starrk only sighed in response, many different thoughts were racing around in his mind at that point. Starrk never did much when it came to dating and his previous relationship, if one could call it such, was a nightmare.

"Well, I'd better be going. See ya tomorrow Grimm." Starrk said as he began to make his way towards his car.

"Yeah, see ya," Grimmjow said. "Good like with your upcoming date."

"Yeah I know, though I doubt it's a date" Starrk replied "Hey Lilynette, come on, we need to get going."

"Alright," Lilynette cried out to her brother. "Sorry, guys, I gotta get going. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Lily," Momo called out as Lilynette rushed to her brother.

Starrk playfully ruffled Lilynette's hair as she got into the car. He closed the passenger door after her and then got into the driver's seat. Harribel watched Starrk from her car when it finally dawned on her. She finally understood what it was about Starrk that she liked. She admired his compassion for his friends and the devotion he showed to his younger sister. Tia realized that she was attracted to him. She was attracted to his sweet, compassionate, and sincere nature. Of course it should go without saying that there was a physical attraction as well. After all she was a healthy teenage girl with hormones. She then shook her head, trying to focus on getting home.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow still waited for Nel to exit the building. He watched the trickle of students coming out.

"Well now, what is this? Is Sir Blueberry our school's newest security guard?" a familiar voice asked.

Grimmjow turned and saw Ulquiorra looking at him.

"I'm just waiting for someone," Grimmjow replied, ignoring him.

"Now this is certainly new... Are you not going to call me by some vulgar or moronic nickname? The world must truly be coming to an end," Ulquiorra inquired, walking towards his car.

Grimmjow growled under his breath as Ulquiorra's car drove away. Then, he saw Nel making her way to the enterance. When she saw him, she smiled.

"Sorry about being late Grimm," she said. "I... kinda got held up a little bit.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Grimmjow replied. "Let's get outta here. I'm not one who likes hanging around school after class."

"Sure," Nel added as she grinned at him, "and besides, you DID offer to drive a lady home when we were walking from Mr. Ukitake's class."

"Yeah, yeah I know. You don't need to remind me. Come on, hop in," he said opening the passenger side foor of his Jeep for her.

"Well thank you kind sir," she said as she got in and Grimmjow closed the door.

"So," he asked, "what did keep you?"

"Hmm... oh nothing important," she replied giving him her mischievous grin.

"Okay," Grimmjow added, a slight grin spread on his face.

With that, each student drove off towards their respective homes, bringing an end to another interesting day at Hueco Mundo High. For a certain lecherous, hoodie clad student, however, his day wasn't quite over yet. Nnoitra was once again tied up but this time he wasn't wearing a cheerleader's uniform. In place of it, he had underwear over his head and his body was covered in various forms of graffiti, most of it very lurid and graphic. Tesla, once again, was struggling to get his master free, but he wasn't having much success.

 **TO BE CONTINUED!**

 **A/N: Once again, I want to thank all who read, review and enjoy this story and I especially want to thank MLJCoyoteStarrk, cause he's just awesome like that, and his stories are awesome. Seriously, give them a read sometime.**

 **Next time, it's Saturday afternoon, and it's a group outing as new friends get to know one another.**


	3. Chapter 3: Meet Me at The Mall

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach or it's characters, Tite Kubo owns all that (and some really neat shades)**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Weekend Homework Session**

 **OR**

 **Meet Me at The Mall!**

The following morning, Starrk and Lilynette had just finished their morning preparations and sat down for their breakfast. Lilynette noticed that her brother was still looking over the slip of paper that Harribel gave him the previous day. Her trademark mischievous smirk soon found it's way onto her face.

"Whatcha looking at Starrk?" Lilynette asked.

"Oh...uh...nothing." Starrk replied, blushing slightly.

"I see...that little piece of paper you have wouldn't have anything to do with that girl you like would it?"

Starrk's blush deepened a little more as he remained silent, much to the amusement of his younger sister.

"Oh my God it DOES!" Lilynette blurted out excitedly. "It's her phone number isn't it?"

"Nah, it's not." Starrk replied lazily.

"Well, what IS on it then?" Lilynette asked, reaching for the slip of paper. "You may as well save yourself some trouble cause I'll just keep asking you until you answer."

"Fine..." Starrk sighed in defeat.

He showed the curious Lilynette the slip of paper, which was quickly swiped out of his hand. The plucky young girl looked over it for about a minute and once again another mischievous smirk appeared on her face.

"Wow Starrk," Lilynette said, still grinning. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Urgh...Lilynette since when did you turn into Grimmjow." Starrk said, blushing a bright shade of red.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you're finally moving on from _her_." Lilynette replied. "Seriously, I just want the best for you."

"Thanks squirt." Starrk said, playfully ruffling Lilynette's hair. "Though I wouldn't call this what you're thinking it is."

"Whatever you say." Lilynette replied, smiling slightly.

"We'd better get going, I'd hate to have to face Principal Luisenbarn for being late." Starrk muttered, in mid yawn.

"Yeah, last thing I'd want to deal with is the wrath of Mumm-Ra the Ever Living." Lilynette replied, giggling at her own joke.

"Don't ever call him that to his face, otherwise he might sentence you to the dreaded 'Respira'." Starrk muttered.

"Noooooo!" Lilynette mock shrieked, "I'm too young and cute for hard time!"

Both Starrk and Lilynette made their way towards Starrk's car, opening their respective doors and hopping in. They drove off towards the school to start what would likely be another interesting day.

 _ **Meanwhile on the campus...**_

Grimmjow pulled into the Senior parking lot hoping not to be the first one to arrive on campus again. However, it would seem that luck was not on his side, for he discovered that the parking lot was empty, much to his annoyance.

"Damn it!" Grimmjow growled. "Not again! Why does this shit keep happening?"

As Grimmjow mumbled to himself about his bad luck with his school arrival times, he began to formulate a plan that would ensure he would never be first on campus again. It didn't take long, though, until he saw some cars pull into the parking lot, one in particular belonging to Ulquiorra. As the car parked in it's usual space under the rather large oak tree, Grimmjow's mumblings intensified.

"Oh great... last thing I need is the Sad Mime throwing insults my way." Grimmjow mumbled to himself.

"Well now, this is most certainly an interesting obsveration." a familiar voice said.

"Just what do you mean by that Dork Knight?" Grimmjow asked.

"What I mean," Ulquiorra replied. "Is your rather strange penchant for being the first one to arrive on campus. It seems contrary to your general disdain of scholastic affairs. Not that it's any of my buisness of course."

"Damn right it's not Lord Doom," Grimmjow growled. "Besides who the fuck asked your opinion anyway?"

"I sometimes wonder why I bother associating with trash like you." Ulquiorra replied calmly. "If you will excuse me I would rather spend my time occupied with something more constructive as opposed to listening to your inane vulgarities."

Ulquiorra then walked into the building, leaving behind a very ticked off Grimmjow. His mutterings and growlings began to get more and more intense.

"Damn your douche-baggery you fucking snobby little pampered ass..." Grimmjow growled under his breath, struggling to maintain his composure. "One of these days Batman, I'll show you who's boss, oh yeah you'll get what the hell's coming to ya."

"And just what's your plan to beat the Bat, Mistah J. ," someone said, sneaking up behind Grimmjow.

"WOAH! Holy SHIT!" Grimmjow shouted as he jumped a little. "Damn Nel, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Nel found herself in a giggle fit over Grimmjow's reaction. As soon as Grimmjow regained his composure, he joined in Nel's laughing fit.

"Sorry, Grimm, I couldn't resist," Nel said, still giggling.

"Eh it's alright, and hey that wasn't a bad impersonation." Grimmjow replied.

"What can I say, I can't help but like The Joker and his Femme Fatale," Nel said. "Anywho, you never answered my question, 'How are you gonna take down The Bat?'"

"Heh, maybe I can make the Bat eat some of those weird grinning fish," Grimmjow added.

"Oooooh the Joker Fish?" Nel asked.

"Yeah, and maybe then The Bat King would loosen up and grow a personality," Grimmjow replied, "Or at least not act like he's better than everyone else."

"Hopefully you know the jingle." Nel added.

"Heh, who DOESN'T know that old classic?" Grimmjow replied.

" _They're finny and funny and oh so delish, they're joyful and jolly JOKER Fish!_ " Nel and Grimmjow sang simultaneously before going into another laughing fit.

As Grimmjow and Nel were busy enjoying their laughter and conversation, they both spotted Starrk's dusty grey Cadillac Sedan pulling into the Senior parking lot. Starrk and Lilynette got out of the car and waved to Grimmjow and Nel.

"Hey Starrky," Nel shouted in her usual cheery tone.

"Hey Nel," Starrk replied, lethargically.

"Yo, El Lobo," Grimmjow said, "You hyped for the coming weekend?"

"Oh? What's going on this weekend?" Nel asked.

"Oh nothing much, 'cept Wolf Man Mac here's got a date," Grimmjow replied, smirking at Starrk.

"Grimm, I've told you already, it's not a date," Starrk replied, blushing a bit. "We're getting together to work on some school related stuff and maybe head out to the mall later that afternoon."

"You know Starrky, there's a river in Egypt called 'Denile' right?" Lilynette replied, also smirking at the blushing student.

"Yeah Starrk," Nel added "Ahhhh, mall trolling eh? That's a first date standard if I ever saw one."

"Come on you guys," Starrk said, trying to stifle a yawn. "Bel and I barely know one another. If anything this is more like a 'get acquanted' kinda thing."

"Riiiiiiiiiight," Nel replied, playfully sticking her tongue out. "Just keep telling yourself that."

Starrk couldn't help but grin at his friends' teasing. He couldn't ignore all of it though, he kept thinking to himself "what if it IS a date", despite rationalizing that it couldn't be, since he and Harribel only just met the previous day. Deep down though, Starrk couldn't help but feel a sense of joy, joy that perhaps Grimmjow, Nel and his own sister, might be right.

As the quartet entered the building Harribel pulled into the parking lot. Noticing that her usual space was taken already, she quickly parked in the nearest open spot. What she didn't know was that she was parked next to Starrk's vintage Cadillac.

 _ **Later that day in Mr. Ukitake's Class...**_

Class started off on a hectic note as Szayel Aporro and Charlotte Cuuhlhourne argued back and forth over the concept of beauty and fashion. Needless to say, not much progress was made on the duo's project. Elsewhere Apacci was eying Tesla, making sure the meek student didn't try any funny business with her. Finally Grimmjow and Nel were busy on their project, The Crusades. As it turned out, the two worked fairly well together. It helped that they shared a similar sense of humor, making conversation easier.

"You know..." Nel began, placing a finger on her chin, "You said something about Starrk and Tia getting together Saturday right?"

"Yeah, So?" Grimmjow replied.

"Well, I was curious, would you like to get together with me this weekend?"

"Sounds like fun," Grimmjow replied. "Though I gotta ask, why?"

"Well you partially answered your own question, silly," Nel said. "We could knock out some of that excess homework for one thing, and maybe we could go out for a bite to eat and hit up the mall later?"

"If I didn't know better," Grimmjow replied. "I'd swear you were asking me out on a date."

"Well I dunno about that," Nel replied, playfully teasing the blue haired student. "It's more like we're just hanging out. Besides maybe Starrk and Tia would want to join us."

"I figured as much," Grimmjow muttered, "Still can't blame a guy for trying right?"

"I suppose not," Nel replied, sticking her tongue out and winking at her study partner.

"So, I take it Saturday afternoon's good for you?" Grimmjow asked.

"Sure," Nel replied. "Far as I know I'm not doing anything then."

Elsewhere in the classroom, Nnoitra was fuming, having overheard the exchange between Grimmjow and Nelliel. He was already in a foul mood due to the rather unfortunate result of his "date" the previous night, and what he was over hearing was pushing him to near madness. Whatever had happened between Nnoitra and Luppi must have been horrific, for the tall student refused to give Luppi any sort of eye contact.

"Um, Nnoitra, we need to get our presentation ready by tomorrow." Luppi said, trying to get Nnoitra's attention.

"That fucking little..." Nnoitra grumbled under his breath, trying not to look at his partner. "How dare he steal my prey like that?"

"Ugh...whatever..." Luppi stated. "I'll just read up on 'spoils of war' by myself then."

"Wait," Nnoitra replied. "Did you say 'spoils of war?' As in, Gold, loot AND women?"

"Yeah, I did..." Luppi replied, smirking. "Did something about that grab your attention?"

"Yeah, though don't say 'grab' around me," Nnoitra replied.

"Whatever you say, cutie," Luppi replied, smirking at Nnoitra seductively.

 _ **Elsewhere in Mr. Urahara's class...**_

It was buisness as usual in Kisuke Urahara's class. Ulquiorra and Sung-sun were working on their assignment for the day, making sure to document every detail of the experiment. The teams of Di Roy and Nakeem and Avirama and Findor, once again, found themselves engaging in yet another "war" of explosions, much to Mr. Urahara's amusement. Starrk and Harribel however had other things on their mind besides the daily assignment.

"Um...Starrk," Harribel asked, "Are you alright? You look a little nervous."

"Huh...Oh...um..." Starrk replied. "It's...It's nothing..."

"I don't know, you've been fidgeting a little since class started." Harribel said.

"Well..." Starrk replied "My sister found out about our plans, so did Nel."

"Ok?" Harribel added "I don't know why that would make you nervous. I mean Nel is your friend for one thing."

"Yeah..." Starrk muttered. "But they both have a habit of teasing and well...They seem to think we're going on a...a date."

"Ah, so that's what's got you a bit flustered." Harribel replied, smiling slightly.

"I mean...I wouldn't mind if it was..." Starrk said. "But we barely know each other."

"Yeah..." Harribel added. "View it more as we're getting to know each other."

"That's what I was thinking." Starrk replied, smiling at his lab partner. "Good luck convincing Nel and Grimm that though."

Harribel couldn't help but laugh at that last statement. As the two continued to work on their lab assignment, they both caught their hands touching on occassion. Of course when the noticed such, they immediately blushed.

'I wouldn't mind if it was a date...' Harribel thought to herself. 'There's just something that feels so RIGHT being next to him.'

Elsewhere in the room, Mila Rose was watching Starrk and Harribel, muttering something under her breath. Ggio couldn't help but take advantage of her distraction to sneak in some ogling. Before she could retaliate once she noticed Ggio eyeing her, fumes from the warring lab duo's impromptu "war" floated over to their table. Rose and Ggio quickly dived under their table, discretion being the better part of valor in this case.

"I'm so going to kill those two morons..." Ggio growled under his breath.

"Not before I get my hands on them first..." Mila Rose muttered.

 _ **Later on at Lunch...**_

Starrk and Grimmjow were sitting at their usual table, chatting about some their days so far, as well as the latest news regarding the latest releases of some of their favorite bands and such. Nel came over to join them with her lunch as usual, but unlike most days, Harribel was with her.

Over at Harribel's usual table, Apacci and Mila Rose were in yet another shouting match over who knows what, while Sung-Sun, clearly annoyed, tried her best to ignore her cohorts. While Nel sat across from Grimmjow, Harribel decided to sit across from Starrk. Seeing this course of action on their friend's part, Apacci immediately jumped up and begn to storm over towards Starrk. She was hell bound and determined to remind the laid back student, that if he did anything to Harribel, he was as good as dead.

Lilynette, on the other hand, was sitting with her friends as usual. The group was talking about what they were planning to do over the weekend. She noticed Apacci's march towards her brother, but figured that the people at that table could handle themselves and returned to her conversation, bracing for fireworks at the same time.

"Well now, this is new," Grimmjow said, "Don't you usually sit with your three body guards?"

"Yeah," Harribel replied. "But Apacci and Mila Rose's constant bickering was starting to give me a headache."

"I hear ya on that one Tia," Nel added. "Dealing with Szayel and Cuuhlhourne's arguing wasn't much better."

"Yeah," Starrk added.

"So," Nel said, grinning. "I hear you and Starrky have a big date this Saturday."

Harribel and Starrk both blushed at the reminder. While Starrk's initial anxieties about their weekend meet up had faded for the most part, Nel's playful teasing always had a way of getting to him. Harribel, while slightly embarassed by Nel's statement, found herself smiling a bit. Before Nel could proceed with any more questions, however, Harribel asked a question of her own.

"Oh, and what about you and Grimmjow?" Harribel asked. "Do you two have anything planned for the weekend?"

Nel found herself blushing a bit at Harribel's question, while Grimmjow nearly spit out some of his drink in surprise. Starrk couldn't hide a chuckle about their respective reactions.

"Well now," Starrk said. "Does Grimm have a li'l ol' date this weekend?"

Grimmjow remained silent and gave Starrk a halfhearted glare. Despite the small blush on his face, Grimmjow kept his composure.

"Hey man," Starrk muttered. "Turn about IS fair play."

"Oh really?" Grimmjow replied. "In that case I plead the fifth."

Starrk once again chuckled at Grimmjow's response, then glanced over to Nel, who was still blushing. She didn't say anything but her blushing, and her smile told volumes.

"I wouldn't call it a date per se," Nel repied, finally regaining her composure. "We were simply thinking about hanging out at the mall Saturday. Maybe get some of school stuff out of the way."

"You sure about that?" Starrk asked. "Didn't you both tell me that 'Mall Trolling' was a standard 'first date'?"

"Curses!" Nel replied playfully. "Hoisted by my own petard!"

"You know, Starrk and I could join you." Harribel said. "If you both are alright with that of course."

"Sure!" Nel replied. "I never did get to give you a grand tour of the mall since you were busy getting settled and all. Oh and I bet Starrk's sister will want to go too."

"Yeah." Starrk added as he yawned slightly. "She loves going to the arcade and spending time on the DDR Machines."

"That's fine." Harribel replied. "Like I said yesterday I would like to get to know her better as well."

"Well, while you're doing that, I'm SO hitting up the Arcade." Grimmjow said, smirking slightly.

"You and that arcade..." Starrk added. "Planning to show off your 'skills' to Nel I take it?"

"Not my fault I'm that good." Grimmjow replied, his trademark smirk ever present.

"That reminds me, I can show you the book store while we're there," Starrk said. "I've got a friend who works there, you'd probably like her."

"Yeah, Cirucci can be a little snarky but only because she works in the service field." Nel added. "It's sort of how she deals with it. Don't worry, though, she won't act like that around us."

"Of course, expect to hear customer horror stories that either she or her boyfriend have seen first hand." Starrk said.

"With all this activity we have planned I doubt we'll get to much of our assignments done." Harribel added.

"We could meet up earlier than 3 if that's the case," Nel said. "We don't have all THAT much to do homework wise."

"Yeah, most of it is stuff from Miss Ise's class anyway," Grimmjow stated. "Wolf boy there's a wiz in that class."

"Even though he sleeps through class he always seems to figure out the problems." Nel added "I wonder if his sleeping is him actually learning through entranced meditation or something."

"It's gotta be SOMETHING alright." Grimmjow said. "Whatever it is, it's hilarious seeing Miss Ise freak out every time he nails the answer. At least that's what Yylfordt always says, anyway."

"That's rather peculular," Harribel added. "Starrk doesn't sleep much if at all during Mr. Urahara's class."

"That's because your class has Di Roy and Nakeem." Nel said, giggling. "Poor Starrky couldn't afford to sleep in that class."

"That and that Urahara guy would probably experiment on Starrk in his sleep." Grimmjow added.

"Who knows." Starrk said lethargicly "That guy's so unpredictable."

As the group's conversation continued, the bell rang which meant it was time for the second half of the school day. Classes proceeded normally, with Lilynette once again having to go and fetch her Uncle Shu from the rooftop. Starrk slept through Miss Nanao Ise's class, much to her chagrin, and Harribel found herself sketching another picture, once again Starrk, but wearing a solid grey uniform, jacket with a red button at the top and gold yellow lining with black boots to complete the ensemble.

Harribel once again found herself blushing at her newest sketch, this time, however, she intended to finish it at home, time permitting of course. Before long, the bell signalling the end of the school day sounded off and the group of friends found themselves walking towards their respective vehicles. Before they could get past the door, Starrk was ambushed by a very familiar form. Lilynette leaped towards her brother and proceeded to latch onto him in some form of tackle hug. Starrk almost fell but, having long been used to Lilynette's odd greetings, was able to keep his balance.

"So," Lilynette said, glancing at Harribel. "Is this the lucky lady I've been hearing about?"

Starrk blushed a bit at his younger sister's rather blunt question. Harribel, while also blushing, couldn't help but smile at the adorable scene taking place before her. Grimmjow and Nelliel glanced at the trio walking to their respective vehicles. They both couldn't help but smile at them, seeing how happy they looked.

"Oh, Bel," Starrk said, breaking the silence. "This is my younger sister Lilynette.

"Hello." Lilynette replied, smiling at Harribel.

"Hello," Harribel said, reaching her hand out towards the smaller sibling. "Pleased to meet you. Your brother's told me a lot about you."

"Is it true you and Starrk have a date this Saturday?" Lilynette asked, once again causing both Starrk and Harribel to blush.

"Lilynette!" Starrk said, trying to regain his composure.

"Well," Harribel added. "We were thinking about going to the mall with Nel and Grimmjow."

"Oooooh," Lilynette replied. "I wanna go too!"

"I figured as much." Starrk said, running his hand through his hair.

"We were planning on showing our new friend here around," Nel added. "You wouldn't mind helping out with that would you Lily?"

"Course not," Lilynette replied.

"Long as I get my fix of Arcade action, I'm good." Grimmjow added, smirking slightly.

After a bit of discussion regarding their plans, and other assorted bits of small talk, the group of five were beginning to lose track of time. Grimmjow and Nel were the first to their cars, and before they left for their respective homes they waved bye to their friends. Starrk, Lilynette and Harribel stayed behind a little longer to talk and so that Lilynette to get acquanted with the blonde student. Before long, Lilynette spotted Rudobon and his squadron of Exequias performing their final patrol of the day, glancing in the direction of the group.

"Uh-oh," Lilynette said, gesturing over towards the group. "We'd better get out of here before 'The Spanish Inquisition' over there decides to hold us for questioning."

"Ahh," Harribel shouted, as she noticed Rudobon's patrol. "I guess it's true what they say, no one really DOES expect the Spanish Inquisition..."

"Yeah," Starrk added, chuckling at Harribel's unintended joke. "Those guys seem to pop out at any random time. Still, we'd best get going. Last thing any of us needs is to be bothered by them."

Harribel nodded in agreement as she got into her car.

"See ya tomorrow Bel." Starrk said, as he stood outside his car door.

"Yeah," Harribel replied, slightly blushing. "See you tomorrow."

After Harribel pulled off and headed on her way home. Starrk and Lilynette began to do the same. Being a curious sort, Lilynette had a lot of questions for her brother. Starrk kept evading the questions or changing the topic, much to the annoyance of his younger sister.

The following school day seemed to drag on for everyone. After all, the weekend was coming up and that meant fun for many students. Of course some classes were a little more eventful than others. Di Roy, Nakeem, Avirama and Findor were up to their usual antics in Urahara's class, much to the teacher's delight as he not-so-secretly recorded them. Starrk was once again run ragged by Yachiru and slept his way through Algebra 2 later that day, pleasant dreams filling his head.

 _ **The Next Day...**_

Once again, Starrk's younger sister Lilynette found herself trying to wake her brother up. Looking at Starrk's alarm clock, she could see it was a little past 11:40 AM.

"Starrk... Hey Starrk!" Lilynette shouted trying to rouse her brother from his slumber. "So that's how you're gonna play it eh?"

Lilynette, a wicked grin on her face, got out one of her many secret weapons for waking Starrk, namely an airhorn. Cackling to herself, she placed it right by one of his ears and pressed down on the button. With a loud blast of sound ringing in his ears, Starrk immediately jumped up from his bed, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling.

"Gah!" Starrk said, still shaken from his wake up call. "Why did you do that?"

"You know," Lilynette replied. "If you'd just get up like normal people, I wouldn't need to resort to such extremes.

"I knew buying you that thing was a mistake." Starrk muttered.

"You'd better get moving and get ready, or do I need to blow the airhorn again?" Lilynette said, grinning mischievously.

"Alright, I'm going, I'm going." Starrk replied, making his way to the bathroom.

"And don't fall asleep in the shower," Lilynette shouted.

"Right, right," Starrk replied, yawning.

Starrk took his time in the shower, relaxing under the hot water was one of his few luxuries. Of course, he couldn't afford to take too long this time unless he wished to incur the wrath of his younger sister. Once he was done, he wrapped himself in a towel and quickly made his way back to his bedroom.

"Bathroom's all yours squirt!" Starrk shouted from his room.

"Ok," Lilynette replied. "And stop calling me 'squirt' it sounds weird."

Starrk chuckled a bit at Lilynette's repsonse as she proceeded with her own grooming rituals. After he applied his deodorant and his necklace, he quickly selected his choice of outfit, a black t-shirt with a pack of wolves on it and simple blue jeanswith a pair of broken-in black loafers.

When Lilynette was done getting herself cleaned up, she came out of her room wearing a pink button up shirt, unbuttoned, with a white tank top under it. She also wore a pair of black biker shorts and a pair of pink hightops to complete her look. Both siblings then descended the staircase, though Lilynette was in more of a hurry. Starrk chose to take his time.

"What's the rush Lilynette?" Starrk asked, running his hand through his hair.

"Well, I'd like to get to the mall sometime TODAY," Lilynette replied. "Besides, it's not my fault you slept in."

"We don't have to meet the others til a bit later."

"Well, maybe I'd like to grab some 'noms on the way. Bet you didn't consider that did you?"

"Isn't that what the food court's for?"

"Touche..." Lilynette conceded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once Starrk and Lilynette were out the door, they made their way to Starrk's car. Usually Lilynette would ride "shotgun" with her older brother and as such, the responsibility of navigator usually fell to her. Using her phone, she entered Harribel's address into the GPS program. As the siblings drove, Lilynette once again began asking questions about Starrk and Harribel inbetween making fun of the automated GPS voice.

 _ **Meanwhile at Grimmjow's house...**_

Grimmjow had just finished his usual grooming ritual before heading out and was looking in his closet for something more comfortable than the Hueco Mundo High uniform. His chosen outfit consisted of a white tanktop with a light blue a circle-A on the front. A pair of faded blue jeans and messy looking sneakers completed his attire. He also wore a couple of punk rocker style bracelets and a black jacket with various patches to complete his ensemble. All ready to go, he took a moment to sit on his bed and relax for a minute.

Grimmjow's room was much like your standard male's room, fairly messy with dirty clothes scattered about. The blue walls featured posters of bikini clad supermodels, a wall scroll of one of his favorite series, Berserk and a poster for the metal band Pantera. One corner of the room featured an entertainment hutch and within it was a 30 inch television hooked to a couple of gaming consoles. In the opposite corner was his computer desk, more or less neat save for a couple of empty soda cans. On top of his dresser, resting on top of a stack of DVDs was a half eaten slice of pizza. On the night table next to his bed was his stereo system, playing metal songs in the background.

Making themselves comfortable on his bed, four cats were curled up, napping in a cat pile unfazed Grimmjow's taste in loud music. Unfortunately for Grimmjow's schedule, one of them had sprawled across his lap like fuzzy ooze the minute he sat down, purring like a cement mixer. Disentangling himself from the cats, who barely noticed his movement, he glanced at the clock on the wall above the TV.

"Heh, about time to head out." Grimmjow muttered to himself, giving the cats a quick scritch before heading out of his room, switching the music off and leaving the door slightly open so that the cats could roam at will. Before he could make his way to his jeep, however his phone's text alarm sounded off.

 _'Hey Grimm, It's Nel. I completely forgot to give you my address...'_ ' The text read, along with her address, and a photo of herself. _'PS. Here's a photo of me you can use for your contacts. I hope I can get one of you too.'_

"Heh," Grimmjow said to himself, smirking. "I think I could arrange that." As he drove, though, he started to wonder, "How did she get my number?"

Making sure that the directions to Nel's house were entered properly into his GPS, he couldn't help but grin in anticipation for their meetup. He cranked up the radio, grinning as AC/DC came up in the rotation, and started loudly singing along, checking the GPS instructions at the same time.

Despite the best efforts of the GPS to get him to keep turning right in a perpetual circle one street over from his destination, Grimmjow managed to successfully find Nelliel's house. In fact once he was on the proper street, it was painfully easy to spot it. Grimmjow was expecting Nel to live in an average looking house that closely resembled the rest of the neighborhood, however what he found was interesting, to say the least.

The outside of the house had sea green siding and the doors and window panels were a dark, forest green in color. Decorating the yard were statues of sheep and rams. The rams looking like they were in a headbutting contest and the sheep looking like they were grazing. Before he could get out of his jeep, Nelliel half-sprinted out of her front door. With a spring in her step she made her way to the Jeep, hurtling over a few of the statues for good measure, and jumped in.

"Hey Grimm, I see you got my text." Nel said.

"Yeah," Grimmjow replied. "I have to ask though, how did you get my number?"

"Oh that's easy," Nel said. "Lilynette gave it to me yesterday before her and Starrk left."

"I should have known," Grimmjow muttered, "Anyway, you ready?"

"Oh I was BORN ready." Nel replied, grinning.

"Then let's rock and roll!" Grimmjow shouted in excitement as he reved up the engine.

 _ **Back with Starrk and Lilynette...**_

"Turn right at the next corner," The GPS blurted out.

"Captain's Log," Lilynette said, mocking the GPS voice. "Turn right... at that weird... phallic shaped... sign, you dipshit."

"Come on now Lilynette," Starrk replied, trying not to laugh at Lilynette's snark. "Try to keep your language clean, at least in front of Bel ok?"

"Oh don't worry," Lilynette said. "I'll keep my dirty, dirty little mouth clean in front of your girlfriend. In fact, since I like her, I'll be nice and sit in the back when we pick her up."

Starrk was taken aback by Lilynette's response. Usually she wasn't as compliant towards Starrk's requests, nor was she quick to take with people she's only just met. Of course that didn't stop her from teasing him regarding his and Harribel's relationship.

"What?" Lilynette said. "She seems nice."

"It's just..." Starrk replied. "You usually don't take to people so quick."

"You know better than anyone I'm an excellent judge of character," Lilynette said. "Plus, after what happened with your ex..."

Starrk didn't comment on that, choosing instead to focus on the road. After all if there was one thing he wanted to forget about, it's his ex.

"I didn't mean to strike that nerve." Lilynette said, feeling a tad guilty.

"It's alright Lilynette," Starrk replied. "Let's not think about bad things from the past."

"Yeah!" Lilynette said happily. "We're off to have fun, not be sad depressios like a certain rich kid."

Starrk chuckled a bit at Lilynette's reply as they drove on. Though he may unintentionally annoy her sometimes, Lilynette knew he loved her and vice versa. Lilynette truly wanted to see her brother happy, and seeing him going out to meet with friends, and actually looking half way lively was a joyful sight for her. Before long the GPS reminded the pair that they had arrived at their destination.

Harribel's house was more "normal" in appearance, especially compared to Nelliel's house. It was a two story family dwelling with white aluminum siding, with the front door being a golden yellow. The window paneling was also white, matching the siding on the house. Starrk pulled into the driveway and parked and, as promised, Lilynette got out of her seat and moved to the back. Starrk got out of the car and stood next to his vehicle.

After a couple of minutes Harribel walked out and walked towards Starrk and Lilynette. Harribel's choice of attire consisted of a sleeveless midnight blue top and basic blue jeans. In addition to her shark charm she wore a pair of white shoes and a shark tooth pendant to complete her ensemble.

"Hey Bel," Starrk said, opening the door for her. "You look great."

"My aren't you the gentleman," Harribel replied, smiling. "And thank you, you don't look so bad yourself."

Starrk found himself blushing once again but also smiling. As he made his way to the driver's seat, Harribel found herself looking at Starrk, and she couldn't help but smile thinking about every time he called her "Bel". Not even her ex called her that, let alone any other "pet name". Starrk was the complete opposite of her ex, humble, kind, considerate and laid back, and now she was going to see what he was like when not at school.

"So Bel," Lilynette chimed in, breaking the silence. "What shop are you looking forward to visiting most?"

"I don't know," Harribel replied. "Maybe the book store. I'd like to see their selection."

"Yeah," Starrk added. "They've got quite a variety of books, comics and a few other assorted knick knacks."

"Of course I wouldn't mind hitting up the food court first." Harribel said. "I... kinda slept in a bit and forgot to eat breakfast."

"Oh dear," Lilynette added. "You're picking up some of Starrky's habits aren't you?"

"In my defense," Harribel replied, trying to hold back a small chuckle. "I was up late taking care of school work, so I could focus more on today's events."

"Bel...," Starrk replied. "You can't be skipping meals now, it's not good for your health."

"I'll be okay," Harribel said, blushing a bit. "It's sweet of you to be concerned for me though."

"Would you like anything in particular from the Food Court?" Starrk asked.

"Hmmm, if they have one, something from The Noodle Hut?" Harribel replied.

"Sounds good," Starrk replied. "It's been ages since I had anything from The Noodle Hut."

"Oh, I just got a text from Nel," Lilynette said. "Funny that you guys mentioned the food court, Nel wants to meet us there."

"Heh, Talk about fate," Harribel added.

"Yeah really." Starrk said.

On their way to the mall, the trio talked about many different subjects. As usual Lilynette was full of questions, some of which made Starrk and Harribel blush a bit. Before long the group was at the mall and, while looking for a parking space, they spotted Grimmjow's jeep.

"Looks like Grimm beat us here," Lilynette said.

"Yeah," Starrk added. "How much you want to bet he risked a speeding ticket?"

"Oh no," Lilynette replied, giggling. "I'm not taking that bet."

As the group walked together, Lilynette immediately noticed that Harribel and her brother's hands would touch on occasion. Due to them engaging in conversation and keeping an eye on parking lot traffic they didn't notice each other holding hands. Lilynette simply smiled at the sight before her.

 _'Hah...,'_ Lilynette thought to herself. _'And you're saying this isn't a date.'_

Soon Starrk, Lilynette, and Harribel were inside the mall and then made their way to their first destination, the food court. Once there, they were quickly greeted by Grimmjow and Nelliel. The group soon found themselves a table to sit at.

"Oh hey!" Nel said, greeting the group. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up."

"Eh, you know Starrk," Grimmjow added. "He always tends to drive like an old lady."

"I'd like to keep my car in one piece thank you very much," Starrk replied. "After all, it's an oldie, but a goodie."

"Oh come on," Grimmjow said. "I'm not THAT bad a driver. I mean I've not had a wreck yet."

"Well that right there makes him safer on the road than Apacci." Harribel added. "I can't tell you how many times Apacci had wrecked her car."

"If she's that unsafe," Grimmjow asked. "How the hell did she even GET a license in the first place?"

"There are times I ask myself that same question." Harribel replied.

"Hey Starrky," Nel said, playfully poking Starrk. "Lilynette's getting to that age where she'll be learning to drive."

Starrk's eyes widened in horror at the thought of his younger, rambunctious sister behind the wheel. He not only worried for her safety but the safety of other drivers as well. Grimmjow laughed at Starrk's reaction to Nel's question while Lilynette simply gave her brother a look of mild annoyance.

"Hahahaha! You should see the look on your face." Grimmjow said, laughing.

"What?" Lilynette asked. "You'd be the one teaching me I'd hope."

"Uh... yeah, sure." Starrk replied.

"Surely she wouldn't be worse than Apacci." Harribel added, trying to reassure Starrk.

"So, who's getting what?" Nel said, changing the topic.

"Bel and I were thinking of hitting up the Noodle Hut." Starrk replied.

"Ooooooh, are you two gonna share your lunch?" Nel asked, grinning wickedly. Which resulted in more blushing from Starrk and Harribel.

"Pizza for me!" Lilynette added.

"Ditto for me!" Nel said.

"I'm getting my usual," Grimmjow said, "A big beef brisket sandwitch."

With that said, each pair, save for Grimmjow, went to their food place of choice. Nelliel and Lilynette made their way to the pizza stand. Lilynette ordered a couple slices of pepperoni, and Nel ordered a goat cheese, onion, pineapple and canadian bacon on a coned crust. Grimmjow made his way to Biff's House of Beef and ordered a large beef brisket sandwitch. Finally Starrk and Harribel stood in line for The Noodle Hut. When their turn came, they both placed their orders, Starrk ordered a shrimp chow mein and Harribel ordered a pineapple fried rice.

After about fifteen minutes or so, the group returned to the table they selected from themselves. Grimmjow was rather surprised by Nel's choice of toppings, as was Lilynette. After the initial shock of Nel's choice of pizza, everyone started eating. Glancing over Nel noticed Starrk and Harribel sharing their meal. They told her that they were simply trying a bite of one another's meals, but her mischievous grin told them both that she didn't believe them. When Harribel offered to share her drink with Starrk, that only further encouraged Nel's theories. Once their meal was done, the group then discussed what they were going to do next.

"Oh MAN!" Grimmjow said, trying to silence a belch. "That was a damn good sammich!"

"I imagine so," Starrk added, "I mean you pratically inhaled the thing."

"I still don't understand how you could put fruit on your pizza." Lilynette muttered.

"It's an acquired taste." Nel replied. "Then again, some people say I've always had 'strange' tastes.

"So where are we heading off to first?" Grimmjow asked.

"We still have to give Tia the grand tour you know." Nelliel replied.

"I'd be okay checking out the bookstore," Starrk added. "I've been meaning to see if the newest volume of Legend of Los Lobos is out or not."

"I didn't know you read Legend of Los Lobos." Harribel said

"Yeah," Starrk replied. "I've been reading it since I was a kid."

"Oh wow," Harribel added. "So you most likely know who 'The Grey Canine' was."

"Yeah," Starrk replied. "She was Commander Lobos' first partner. Before he met The Tiburon Princess."

"I think we have a connection," Lilynette whispered to Nel.

"Yeah," Nel whispered back "Whether they realize it or not."

The group of friends then got up and disposed of their trash. When that was done, the "Grand Tour" of the Menos Mall commenced. The first stop on their tour was a specialty store, this store in particular had various gag items, keychains and shirts featuring icons on popular culture and band names/logos. Nel and Lilynette were more than enthused about visiting this particular shop. Starrk and Harribel were looking at the band t-shirts while Nel and Lilynette looked at keychains. Grimmjow was looking at some of the knick knacks, trying not to succumb to boredom while resisting the temptation to set off every singing, dancing electronic toy in the place.

"Hey look at this a Bawabawa keychain!" Nel exclaimed. "I haven't seen one of these in forever!"

"This one's kinda cute," Lilynette said, holding up a wolf keychain.

"Oooooooh, I LOVE this little headbutting ram one!" Nel said. "Now I don't know which one to get."

"Why not both?" Lilynette asked, as she continued to look over the display of keychains.

"Hey yeah." Nelliel replied. "Of course I need to see how much they are."

"Hey Nel, I think I found something Grimmy there might like." Lilynette said, pointing to a particular keychain.

"Awwwww, now that's an adorable one," Nel said.

"Even though Grimm has that punk appearance about him, he's a total softy when it comes to kitties," Lilynette explained as she held up a small, blue kitten keychain. "Of course you'll never get him to admit it."

"Ooooh, Good to know," Nel replied, once again grinning as she looked over to Grimmjow.

Meanwhile, Starrk and Harribel were looking over various t-shirts. They both noticed a Legend of Los Lobos shirt, featuring the main cast of the series. Another shirt that caught Harribel's eye was a shirt featuring a shark with a top hat and monicle on it. She showed the shirt to Starrk to which he found the image on it rather amusing. Starrk on the other hand found a shirt that featured a wolf on the front wearing shades and sporting dredlocks.

"Heh," Starrk chuckled. "Looks like I'm not the only one who found an amusing shirt."

"I see," Harribel replied. "I'm tempted to get that shark one myself."

"Yeah, same for me and this wolf shirt."

"I'd go ahead and get it, but I also want to save a little spending money for the bookstore."

"I hear you, I've not been in a little while, so I could only imagine what my pull list must look like."

"Hey Starrk!" Lilynette said, walking over towards Starrk and Harribel. "Look at the sign above the display. It's a clearance deal, buy one get one free."

"If you want," Harribel said, looking over at Starrk. "I could buy the shirts..."

"That'd be cool," Starrk replied, "And in return I could uh... maybe get you something from the bookstore?

"Sounds fair to me." Harribel said as she picked up both shirts.

Lilynette couldn't help but find herself grinning at the exchange before her. She was tempted to say something about their being on a date, but in a rare showing of mercy decided to keep quiet. After they paid for their items, the group continued on their tour of the mall, with Nel pointing out some of the stores and what they sold as they passed by. However, the tour would once again come to a stall when they passed one of the department stores.

This store was one that would allow the customers to try out various make up and perfume. Nelliel's smile turned delightfully wicked as she looked at Grimmjow. The blue haired boy was confused as to why Nelliel was eyeing him as if he were some kind of prey. His confusion would be short lived, though, as she grabbed him by the arm and drug him into the department store. Starrk, Harribel and Lilynette all looked at each other, shrugged, and followed their friends into the store. They noticed that, like most department stores, they carried a wide variety of goods, but most of them designed to appeal to more vanilla tastes.

"Um... Nel...," Grimmjow said confused as to what was going on. "Why did you drag me into the make up department?

"Oh you'll see..." Nel replied, her mischievous grin ever present. "Now sit right there."

"Oooookay?" Grimmjow said, still confused.

"Oh this is PERFECT!" Nel exclaimed as she found and brought over some samples of various cosmetic products.

"Just what are you planning to do with those?" Grimmjow asked.

"Well, I want to try them out." Nel replied

"Can't you just try em out in front of a mirror?" Grimmjow growled.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Nel replied. "You and I have the same complexion, so I thought I'd use you to test some of these out."

Grimmjow's eyes widened at Nel's proposal to use him as a make-up guinea pig. He wanted to object, but the weird fluttery feeling he felt when he saw Nel's eyes and smile kept him from doing such. He didn't go down without a fight, much to Lilynette's amusement.

"Oh no! No WAY!" Grimmjow shouted. "I don't want to be painted up like some kind of freaky clown!"

"That's an oddly specific thing to compare this to." Nel replied, giggling at Grimmjow's reaction.

"Why don't you get Harribel or Wolf Boy to be your make up model?" Grimmjow asked, trying to get out of his amusing prediciment.

"Well Tia's complexion is the complete opposite of ours and Starrk's is closer, but still too tan." Nel replied.

"What about Lilynette?" Grimmjow asked, again trying to get out of being Nel's cosmetics model.

"She wouldn't sit still for this sort of thing," Nel replied. "Plus her reactions aren't near as funny as yours are Grimmy."

Grimmjow tried to appeal to Starrk for help but he simply shrugged his shoulders, smirking slightly to himself. With no one else to turn to for help, Grimmjow remained silent as he resigned himself to his fate. Lilynette's laughter grew louder as she bore witness to Grimmjow's impending humiliation. Harribel on the other hand only shook her head, trying not to laugh at the display taking place.

"Resistance is futile Grimmy!" Nel said as she began looking through her supply of sample cosmetics.

"Urgh... " Grimmjow grunted.

"Oooooh this looks like a good one," Nel said happily as she began to apply foundation on Grimmjow's face. "Ah yes, this red shade is going to look soooooooo cute."

"Seriously?" Grimmjow asked

"What?" Nel replied, a twinge of flirtiness in her voice. "Don't you want me to look cute and beautiful for you?"

Grimmjow remained silent on that one. Though he was a bit of a ruffian, he knew a loaded question when he heard one. Wisely he chose to remain silent, which seemed to please Nel. Starrk and Harribel soon found themselves looking around in another part of the department store, while Lilynette wandered into the toy department. Just when Grimmjow's agony couldn't get any worse, ANOTHER very familiar student from school happened to wander by.

"Ahhhh Miss Nelliel," The voice spoke. "A pleasure seeing you here, and I see you have found a new subject."

"Oh hey Szayel," Nel replied. "Yeppers, he's a little stubborn but some of these colors look great on him."

"Indeed," Szayel added, inspecting the now horrified Grimmjow. "Although, I don't see him as a winter, Grimmy here is more of a summer."

"Of COURSE!" Nel shouted. "No WONDER that foundation doesn't quite look right."

"Yes, Indeed," Szayel added. "Plus red clashes to much with his blue hair and icy blue eyes. Here, try this coral blue 24 eye shadow."

"Oh wow Szayel, your right! That looks so much better on him. Do you have any other tips?"

"Why yes I do. In addition to being a genius, I am also an expert at the proper application and usage of cosmetics." Szayel smirked at Grimmjow before returning to Nel. "While I might not use them myself, I do have access to an excellent test subject myself."

Much to Grimmjow's horror, Szayel started giggling. "Although this gives me the perfect opportunity to test out my latest work on a fresh subject." Szyael said, grinning madly.

The pink haired, bespectacled boy pulled out a jar with a strange, slightly glowing substance. Grimmjow's eyes once again widened in horror as he viewed the jar, engmatically labed "Science Cream".

"Ooooh may I try it out?" Nel asked, further frightening the normally unshakable Grimmjow.

"But of course my dear," Szayel replied as he handed the jar over. "I was hoping you'd want to sample this new product of mine.

Nel took the jar and removed the lid. She took an experimental sniff, grinned, and with one finger she took a bit of the cream and applied it to her face. Grimmjow was expecting the worst, but after a few minutes, nothing strange or bizarre happened. Instead, a rather pleasant smell of pomegranate and tangerine found it's way wafting past Grimmjow's nose. The make up tester was surprised to see that Nel was suffering no adverse effects from Szayel's mysterious concoction, if anything the skin that was tested practically seemed to glow with health.

"Wait..." Grimmjow said, "How come there's no weird shit happening to you?"

"Oh come now Grimmy," Szyael replied. "Did you really think I would let Nel use something that would cause some form of bizarre side effect?"

"Yeah Grimmy," Nel added. "Szayel would never do something like that to me anyway."

"So Nelliel, how do you like my new Eau de Telon Balon perfume?" Szayel asked.

"Oh it's absolutely divine Szayel!" Nel replied as she put another small dab of cream on her fingers. "Here Grimmy, you should give it a try."

"What?! No way!" Grimmjow protested. "Perfume's not my thing!"

"Awwwww," Nel replied, pouting "But it'd make you smell so sweet."

"Think of it as a manly cologne then," Szyael added, grinning maniacally. "Unless, of course, you would rather I show you some of my other cosmetic products I've been working on."

"Do I have a choice?" Grimmjow asked.

"No, not really." Szyael replied.

"Come on Grimm," Nel added, giving her best pouty face "Please?"

"Ugh... Fine..." Grimmjow sighed.

"Yay!" Nel shouted happily as she began to rub the cream all over Grimmjow's face, neck and shoulders.

"Now you smell so pretty!" Nel said as she finished applying the perfume.

Soon after, another familiar presence made itself known, in this case Yylfordt, looking for the younger, more twisted Grantz. Grimmjow tried his hardest to hide from Yylfordt's sight but alas, his efforts were in vain. Yylfordt spotted Grimmjow in the chair and a grin soon appeared on his face.

"Oh man bro," Yylfordt said, trying to hold back his laughter. "What happened to you? Lose a bet or something?"

"Come on Yylfordt, don't start man," Grimmjow muttered.

"Hey man, you're the one who's got make up all over his face. It's kinda hard NOT to laugh." Yylfordt replied.

"Oh THERE you are Yylfordt!" Szayel added, giving his older brother a rather unsettling grin.

"Oh shit!" Yylfordt shouted, startled by the sudden appearance of his younger brother.

"Say, Nelliel," Szayel asked, turning his gaze to Nel, "I do believe Yylfordt has a similar complexion to Mr. Jaegerjacques here."

"Hmmmm, I do believe your right Szayel." Nel replied, both sets of eyes looking at Yylfordt.

"So, dear brother, would you like to join us? I believe have some products that would be perfect for you."

"Yeah, wouldn't you want something that would drive the ladies wild?"

"Run Yylfordt! Run in the name of all things sane!" Grimmjow shouted, trying to warn the blonde student.

Before Yylfordt could respond, he saw both Nel and Szayel carrying powderpuffs and wearing matching unsettling grins. Sensing imminent danger, Yylfordt made a break for the exit. His attempt was not fully successful, for both Szayel and Nel decided to chase after the elder Grantz sibling, twirling the powderpuffs above their heads and cackling. Grimmjow took this as an opportunity to escape from his chair, make his way to a nearby bathroom, and most importantly, wash off the makeup. No matter how he scrubbed, he couldn't remove the scent of the mystery Science Cream.

As Nel and Szyael chased Yylfordt, Nel realized that she left Grimmjow unguarded. While Szyael continued to chase Yylfordt, Nel decided to return to the place where she left Grimmjow. Upon returning she was a bit bummed out to see that he was no longer there. Just as she started looking around, Lilynette, Starrk and Harribel were coming back from browsing some of the other store sections.

"Hey guys, did any of you see Grimmjow?" Nel asked

"Nope." Starrk said, yawning a bit.

"I didn't see him either." Harribel added.

"He's probably on the crapper," Lilynette said.

"Ahhhh, I bet he went there to wash the make up off. No wonder I couldn't find him."

"He wasn't exactly willing to participate in your little cosmetics test Nel."

"Awwwww, but you gotta admit, his expressions and reactions were gold."

"Well, can't exactly argue that. Anyway, we should probably try to find him."

"Knowing Grimm, he'll probably be heading to the arcade," Starrk said. "Once he feels the coast is clear so to speak."

"Sounds like him alright," Lilynette added. "Can't say I blame him either, I kinda wanna hit up the arcade myself."

"Hey Nel," Lilynette whispered towards Nel "I got a great idea."

"Oh?" Nel whispered back. "What's your idea?"

"How about you and I go to the Arcade and look for Grimm, that way Starrk and Bel can spend some alone time together."

"Ooooooh aren't we a sneaky little devil. I LOVE it."

"Yeah, they said they wanted to go to the book store anyway. You KNOW those places are kinda boring to me."

"While I don't mind bookstores, I DO like your idea. Why don't we tell them what we're doing?"

"Okay!" Lilynette replied cheerfully.

"Hey Starrk," Nel said, getting Starrk's attention.

"Huh, yeah?" Starrk replied.

"Would you mind if Lilynette and I go to the arcade to look for Grimm?" Nel asked.

"Heh, I figure he'd still be hiding in the bathroom." Starrk replied.

"Yeah, I guess he couldn't handle my makeover skills," Nel said, giggling. "So is it alright if I take Lilynette with me for awhile?"

"Sure, but may I ask why you want to take her with you?" Starrk asked.

"Well, so you and Tia can spend some time together and stuff," Nel replied, grinning and winking at her friend "Plus didn't you want to check out the bookstore?"

"Well yeah," Starrk replied. "But why don't you want to come along with us? I thought you liked bookstores."

"Come on Starrkey, you KNOW exactly why." Nel said, playfully sticking her tongue out.

"Yeah, I have my suspicions. You guys can hit up the arcade if you like."

"Then what are you waiting for? You two go do your thing and we'll do ours. I'll poke your phone when we're ready to head out, ok?"

"Sure thing." Starrk sighed.

Starrk sighed again as Nel and Lilynette ran off for the arcade. He then turned his gaze to Harribel who was reading a magazine about aquatic life. Starrk couldn't help but smile a bit, he was more than happy to spend some time with just Harribel. Harribel then walked over to Starrk.

"Where did everyone else go?" Harribel asked.

"Most likely to the arcade," Starrk replied. "I think they wanted to give us some 'alone time' or something."

"Do... do they think... we're on a date?" Harribel inquired, redness appearing on her face.

"Probably..." Starrk replied, running a hand through his hair. "Nel's always been like that though."

"Yeah," Harribel added. "Though she doesn't seem to mean any harm by it. Anyway, shall we be off?"

"Sure." Starrk replied.

The couple then walked towards the bookstore. Though neither Starrk or Harribel realized it, they would end up holding hands along the way. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the Kind of O Lot Booknook. Despite the name, the book shop carried many different kinds of books as well as comics and graphic novels. This store even carried various core rule books for table top games and some accessories.

Over at the counter was a girl with short purple hair styled up in a peculiar manner. She sported purple teardrop like markings under each eye and she wore a a spiked hairpin as an accessory. Her clothing consisted of a black t-shirt featuring a sparrow in midflight and the word "Golondrina" on it. She wore a pair of midnight blue pants and a pair of dark, high-heeled boots. She was currently reading a book at the time Starrk and Harribel entered the store.

"I'm curious," Harribel said, looking over at Starrk "Aside from Legend of Los Lobos, what other books do you enjoy?"

"Well, let's see...," Starrk replied. "Rob Thurman, Richard Kadrey, John Ringo for starters. How about you Bel, any writers you enjoy?"

"For me it'd have to be Faith Hunter, Mercedes Lackey and Sherrilyn Kenyon." Harribel answered.

"Oooh interesting choices. Of course when I need a good laugh, nothing beats Terry Pratchett or something dark and twisted, Neil Gaiman." Starrk said.

"Oh my God YES! I adore Sandman and Good Omens." Harribel replied.

"I read Good Omens at least once a year myself, it never gets old."

"What about Jim Butcher?" Harribel asked. "Or Jody Lynn Nye"

"Ooooh their work is amazing." Starrk replied, "I was a fan of Jody Lynn Nye since I was little."

"As for graphic novels or manga," Starrk said, slightly shifting the topic. "Besides Legend of Los Lobos, I enjoy Star Lights, and Tales of Dark Water."

"Well I can say for certain that you have fantastic taste." Harribel replied.

"Thanks Bel." Starrk said, slightly blushing.

"Oh looks like they got a new volume of Sword Maiden V." Harribel said, glancing at the manga display.

"I imagine Lilynette will be happy about that," Starrk said. "I better get a copy while I'm thinking about it."

"OH. MY. GOD! Coyote Starrk is that you?" A voice shouted.

Starrk and Harribel turned around to find where the source of the voice came from. They then saw the girl who was at the counter earlier. She quickly walked over to where the pair were standing and upon seeing Starrk gave him a quick hug.

"Hey there Cirucci," Starrk said. "It's been awhile, how have you been?"

"Eh, doing alright," Cirucci replied, "Aside from dealing with one of those know-it-all type customers from time to time of course."

"Eh, comes with the job though."

"True, but it's paradise compared to what my boyfriend endures."

"I could imagine, after all, food service can be a very dangerous line of work."

"You don't know the half of it." Cirucci said.

Cirucci then glanced over to Harribel and very soon a grin appeared on her face.

"Well well well," Cirucci said, still observing Harribel. "Who's your new friend here?"

"Oh yeah," Starrk replied "This is Tia Harribel, her and I thought we'd enjoy hanging out at the mall today."

"Oh my," Cirucci said, her grin widening a bit. "I was wondering when you were gonna give dating another shot. Anyway, pleased to meet you Miss Harribel. I'm Cirucci Sanderwicci. I've been friends with Starrk since we were little."

"It's... it's not... not what you think Cirucci." Starrk replied, a deep shade of red quickly appearing on his face. "Bel and I only met like last week."

"'Bel' eh?" Cirucci said. "Sounds to me like you two are very comfy in each other's company if you're giving each other little nicknames."

Starrk's face turned an even deeper shade of red and Harribel wasn't faring any better.

"Seriously though, how did you two meet?" Cirucci asked.

"Like I said," Starrk replied. "We met last week and we have a couple of classes together, that's about it."

"I see," Cirucci muttered. "Just between you and me, I think she's rather in to you."

Starrk was taken aback by his friend's rather hasty observation. One thing that could be said about Cirucci was that she was blunt. She didn't hold anything back, especially when it came to delivering snark to those who ask for it, or personal observation regarding her friends. Harribel tried to focus on a manga volume she picked up, hoping that Starrk's friend didn't see her blushing.

"I don't think I need to tell you what Nel's told me, I know your totally gaga for her."

"Well yeah I really like her, but I don't want to rush into anything."

"That right there is why she likes you too. You've always been considerate of others."

"Can't help my upbringing you know."

"Regardless of the situation, I'm glad to see you out with another girl, after everything that happened with _'Her'_."

Starrk's expression turned to one of slight discomfort. If there was one topic he didn't want to talk about in front of Harribel, it was his ex.

"That's over and done with." Starrk replied.

"Well Starrk, I'm gonna be honest, should you two decide to become and item, you're gonna have to tell her about your ex at some point." Cirucci said.

"I know, but I also don't want to burden her with my baggage you know?"

"I understand that," Cirucci replied. "But you know I'm right Starrk, don't get me wrong, I just want you to be happy."

"I know, I know," Starrk said, running his hand through his hair. "Grimm and Nel and even Lilynette are saying similar."

"WOAH!" Cirucci shouted in surprise. "You mean to tell me your little sister likes her?"

"I... I... would certainly hope so..." Harribel spoke up. "From the little bit of time we spent together she seems to be a sweetheart."

"Ha ha ha, Oh wow," Cirucci replied, laughing. "CLEARLY you've never seen her try to wake up Starrk here."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Starrk moaned.

"Oh I forgot to mention, the newest volume of Legend of Los Lobos came in last night." Cirucci said.

"Oh cool." Starrk replied.

"I figured you'd want to get a copy as soon as possible so I set one aside for you."

"Thanks."

"No problem, speaking of which I'll have to get back to my post over there."

"That's a shame," Harribel added. "Since your Nel's friend and all I thought maybe you'd like to come with us to the arcade once we pay for our stuff here."

"I wish I could, but unless my co-worker shows up I'm kinda stuck here." Cirucci replied.

"That sucks," Starrk added "Nel would have loved to see you."

"I know," Cirucci said. "It's been too long since her and I had a gab session, and you know Harribel, you're more than welcome to join us anytime."

"Thanks, and feel free to call me 'Tia'" Harribel replied.

As the couple placed their merchandise on the counter, another person entered the bookstore. The man in question was a rather tall and toned individual with brown eyes. He sported a slight tan and a large burnt orange afro-style haircut with thick sideburns with a gotee to complete the look. His outfit was much different than Cirucci's. He sported black tank top with a blue star in the center, grey pants and a white button up shirt that was unbuttoned. The button up shirt was perhaps the most distinguising for it had frills going up and down each side.

"Oh hey Cirucci, your shift's done," The man said. "You can take off if you want, I'm handling closing today."

"Thanks Gantenbainne," Cirucci replied. "Guess I'll be joining you two after all."

"It's funny how fate has a way of working things out right?" Harribel said.

"Yeah really, fate is indeed a strange mistress." Cirucci replied, turning her gaze over to the couple, smiling.

 _ **Meanwhile at the arcade...**_

On the other side of the mall was the Sonido Arcade Palace. This arcade had everything from games you can play for prizes, dance off games, and arcade cabinets featuring various VS style tournament fighters. There was even a section dedicated to console games.

After cleaning the make up off of his face, Grimmjow managed to make his way safely to the arcade without drawing the attention of the mad make-up artists. Little did Grimmjow know, however, that Nel had ceased chasing Yylfordt, leaving that to his demented younger brother. Before long the former make-up model found a pair of hands covering his eyes.

"Guess who," A voice called out.

"Uh... Munchkin, is that you?" Grimmjow asked.

"Nope!" The voice replied, "You were a naughty boy running away like that."

"Oh damn it," Grimmjow muttered. "You're not gonna put more of that make up on me are you?"

"Nah, not right now anyway," Nel replied, removing her hands from Grimmjow's face. "Still though, you didn't have to run off like that."

"Sorry about that," Grimmjow said. "But make up, and things like that, just aren't my thing."

"That's alright," Nel replied her smile returning, "I was playing with you, but you have to admit, that perfume of Szayel's does smell nice."

"Well yeah," Grimmjow said. "I mean you smell great, me, not so much. I smell like a fruit salad."

"That's not a bad thing you know," Nel said, giggling. "Besides, would you rather smell like Yammy's armpits, or worse."

"Agghh!" Grimmjow shouted, trying to keep his lunch from reappearing. "I didn't need that image stalking my thoughts."

"Let's not think about Yammy's armpits then," Nel said trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, I'd like to keep my lunch in my gut thanks," Grimmjow replied. "Anyway, where's El Lobo and Harribel?"

"Lilynette and I decided to give them some alone time," Nel replied. "Knowing them, they're probably at the bookstore by now."

"What about the munchkin?" Grimmjow asked.

"She's over there," Nel replied gesturing over to one of the DDR Machines and sure enough Lilynette was already on one of the platforms.

"Hah, not surprised she'd be on one of those." Grimmjow said.

"What about you Grimm?" Nel asked. "I see you eyeing that game over there."

"Heh, yeah I'm the undefeated champ on that one." Grimmjow stated, smirking confidently.

"Is that so?" Nel replied, her mischievous smirk making once again it's presence known. "Well then, how about a little friendly competition."

"Oh ho ho," Grimmjow chuckled. "Are you challenging me?"

"Maybe," Nel replied. "and why don't we make it interesting. If I win, you'll have to be my pack mule when I go clothes shopping."

"And if I should win?" Grimmjow asked.

"Hmmmm," Nel replied, placing her finger on her chin. "Let's see, if you win I'll flash my boobies, sound good?"

"Oh yeah!" Grimmjow said grinning like a madman. "I like those terms."

"Hehehe, I hope your ready to carry a buttload of bags Grimmy." Nel said as she and Grimmjow walked over to the arcade cabinet.

While Grimmjow and Nel began their virtual match, elsewhere in the arcade there were a few more familiar faces from Hueco Mundo High. Ggio Vega, Avirama and Findor were also hanging out at the arcade. Findor and Avirama were locked in their own battle, leaving Ggio bored and looking around.

"I don't know what's more fucked up," Ggio grumbled to himself. "Those two morons playing a game called 'Meat Beat Mania' or me standing here watching."

"YEAH! TAKE THAT LOBSTER NEWBERG! I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS!" Avirama shouted as he pulled ahead in score.

"No es Exacta!" Findor shouted in retaliation.

"Ugh... I don't know how much more of this I can take..." Ggio muttered.

He looked over to the DDR Machines and aside from Lilynette, he saw another girl. This girl was of a similar frame to Lilynette only she had black hair tied into braids wrapped in white ribbon. Her outfit was a black sleevless shirt with matching pants, accessorized by a necklace with a butterfly adorning it. It would seem that both girls were completely absorbed into their game. Ggio found himself lost in thought and meserized by the black haired girl's moves.

 _"Woah...,"_ Ggio thought to himself. _"Who is that? And, why can't I stop watching her?"_

With each move the girl made, Ggio watched, entranced by her graceful technique. Lilynette proved to be a decent player at DDR in her own right but this girl, it would seem, was in a league of her own. Findor and Avirama were once again in another match trying to prove which one was the superior male, Avirama of course performing his usual ritual of shouting and jumping and Findor blurting out "Exacta". Despite such noise occuring in the background, the dancing ability of Lilynette's rival consumed Ggio's attention completely.

Unfortunately for his libido, another very familiar student came over and obscured Ggio's view of the DDR Machine. The student in question was none other than Charlotte Cuuhlhourne, who was striking a myriad of different poses. The buff, self proclaimed beauty incarnate quickly noticed Ggio's trance, then looked over towards the DDR Machine. A sly grin crossing his face, Cuuhlhourne quickly deduced the cause of Ggio's current state.

"Well what do we have here," Cuulhourne said, striking another pose. "Has our glorious, handsome, devilish, intelligent, fearless, magnificant, wonderful leader been struck by cupid's arrow?"

"Wha..., OH GOOD GOD CUUHLHOURNE! PUT YOUR LEG DOWN FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Ggio shouted, his hypnotized gaze broken by the sight of Cuulhhourne's rather "interesting" posing. "And stop using so many words to describe me, it's freaking weird." Ggio growled.

"I can't help it if I have a way with words darling." Cuuhlhourn replied.

"Will you step aside? You're blocking my view!" Ggio grumbled.

Cuulhourne simply grunted and pranced to the side, however the game between the black haired girl and Lilynette had ended. It was close but the win ultimately went to the mystery girl. The two seemed to be good sports about unknown girl's victory, with Lilynette vowing to redouble her training. They both shot each other a small smile and a silent bow before going their own ways. Ggio was disappointed that he couldn't watch more of the girl's skillful moves.

Elsewhere Grimmjow and Nel were having their own match. Confident that he could win their little wager, Grimmjow dramatically underestimated his opponent's skill. Ultimately Nel ended up the victor in their match, prompting Grimmjow to challenge her to a best two out of three rematch. Nel simply giggled and accepted the stubborn boy's challenge. Despite his best efforts, once again Grimmjow found himself the loser of his and Nel's rematch. The young teen punk couldn't understand why he couldn't defeat Nel in a game he himself was a champion at.

"Damn, how are you so freaking good at this?" Grimmjow said, shocked at his opponent's level of skill.

"Don't go giving up now, you might still win your prize." Nel replied, winking at Grimmjow.

Then it occured to him, her promise to show him her bare chest had distracted his thoughts enough for her to win. Of course Nel wasn't without her own skills that such a distraction was needed, she simply enjoyed playfully teasing Grimmjow, more than any of her other friends.

"Well, that's victory for me!" Nel said as she made a "V" sign.

"Damn it!" Grimmjow grunted in frustration. "I think I got hustled!"

"Aww, don't be too upset Grimmy, you gave it your best shot. Tell you what, I won't work you too hard as sort of a consolation prize." Nel replied, as she patted her defeated opponent on his shoulder.

"Eh, while it sucks to have to be a pack mule, it's refreshing to find someone who brings a challenge," Grimmjow said, "I'm just gonna have to step up the practice a bit, whenever I can get some free time anyway."

"Well then," Nel replied, grinning mischievously. "Anytime you want to have another go, I'll be waiting."

It was a strange phenomenon indeed, Grimmjow wasn't too terribly upset about losing to Nel. Sure, he didn't get the prize he desired and had to be her personal pack mule, but he did gain motivation to improve his skills, with Nel's aforementioned prize being a prime motivator. Of course finding someone who can not only compete on his level of skill but even BEAT him was a prize in and of itself. The fact that it was the girl he was developing feelings for only enhanced this joy ten fold. Grimmjow wouldn't admit these feelings openly of course, due to his pride as a male.

In another part of the arcade, another familiar student was over by the crane game machine. The student in question was none other than Ulquiorra, who somehow managed to look bored even in the colorful, chaotic atmosphere. The pale complected boy was easily proving himself to be quite masterful at the skillcrane, as the small pile of plush toys could attest to. His focus was so great that he managed to completely ignore everything else that was occuring around him.

 _"Hmmmmm,"_ Ulquiorra thought to himself, _"I wonder if she would enjoy receiving this particular plush toy as a gift?"_

"Wow," a familiar voice peeped out "That's quite a collection of plushies you got that Ulqui."

"These plush toys are not for myself, I intend to give a few of them to someone." Ulquiorra replied.

"Really?" The voice asked "That's... not like you at all... at least not according to Grimm anyway."

"Ah Lilynette... " Ulquiorra said in his usual monotone voice. "There is an old saying 'Never judge a book by it's cover'."

"Ah yeah I know that saying." Lilynette replied. "It's a lyric from one of my favorite songs from Rocky Horror."

Ulquiorra simply raised an eyebrow at Lilynette's response. A small part of him wanted to ask her how and why she would know of The Rocky Horror Picture Show considering her age. However he found it best to return to his current task at hand, as the answer he may recieve could possibly disturb him beyond rational thought.

"Ulqui," Lilynette said, trying to get the dark clad boy's attention. "Hey, Ulqui!"

Ulquiorra remained focused on the crane game, ignoring Lilynette's pokings.

"Feh, whatever," Lilynette said as she walked off. "I'll be over with Grimm and Nel. If you can spare a minute away from that skill crane that is."

After her exchange with Ulquiorra, Lilynette walked over to where Grimmjow and Nel were standing, figuring they would be much better conversation than the oddly focused Ulquiorra. As the young girl approached the older couple immediately took note of her presence.

"Well hey there munchkin," Grimmjow said greeting the petite young girl. "Enjoy yourself much?"

"Yeah, that girl really pushed my limits." Lilynette replied. "I'm really gonna have to step my moves up if I'm ever gonna keep up with her, let alone BEAT her."

"I know that feeling all too well..." Grimmjow muttered.

"Oh really now?" Lilynette replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh don't mind him," Nel said. "He's still in a bit of shock that I beat him at a game he's a champ at."

"Really?" Lilynette said. "I always thought Grimmjow was one of, if not the best at fighting games."

"Well, I suppose he was until I came along," Nel replied. "So I guess that makes me the new champ now?"

"Yeah it does," Grimmjow said, his trademark smirk ever present. "Of course you'd better be ready to defend your title."

"Like I said earlier, anytime, big boy." Nel replied, winking and playfully sticking her tongue out at Grimmjow.

 _"Ohhhh yeah, these two are DEFINITELY made for each other..."_ Lilynette thought to herself.

As the trio of young teens were conversing, their group was about to increase in size. Entering the arcade were none other than Starrk, Harribel and Cirucci. The two groups of three were soon about to meld into one large group of six as Starrk's group was approaching Nel's. Nel's eyes lit up and a huge grin appeared on her face when she spotted Cirucci and she immediately ran over to greet her friend.

"Oh man, you should TOTALLY give Drifters a shot, it was created by the same guy who created Hellsing." Cirruci said.

"Hellsing you say?" Starrk asked. "NOW you've piqued my interest."

"Same here," Harribel added. "Though I've never read Hellsing."

"Oh you'll love Hellsing Tia," Cirruci said. "Alucard has to be one of my all time favorite Manga characters."

Just then, Nel spoted the trio entering the arcade and her eyes widened with joy at the sight of one of her old friends.

"OH MY GOD CIRUCCI!" Nel shouted happily as she rushed over and hugged the purple haired girl.

"Oh jeez Nel," Cirucci replied, trying to maintain her balance. "Easy with the glomping there ok?"

"Sorry Cirucci," Nel said, still hugging her and Starrk's mutual friend. "It's been so long since we saw each other."

"Yeah, work sucks sometimes I tell you." Cirucci said.

"I wouldn't know..." Nel replied, looking over at Starrk and Harribel. "So I see you met Tia?"

"Yeah," Cirucci stated. "She seems pretty nice from what I've seen so far. I'll go into super detail mode tonight, ya know since Starrky's so easily embarassed and all."

"Oooooooh I can't wait." Nel replied, strugging to hold back her giggling.

"Hey what's going on here?" Grimmjow asked. "You gonna leave us out of this little shindig?"

"Oh Grimm, I'm sorry," Nel replied, holding a hand behind her head. "This is Cirucci, she's a close mutual friend of Starrk and I."

"Yo," Grimmjow said, "Name's Grimmjow, but everyone, save for Ulquiorra, calls me 'Grimm'."

"I swear I've seen you somewhere before," Circucci said as she shook Grimmjow's hand. "Were you the guy who spray painted 'Kurosaki likes teh Ishida?' or something like that at Karakura last year?"

Grimmjow thought about Cirucci's words for a few seconds, and then errupted in a fit of laughter. As the group began to walk out of the arcade and explore the mall a little more, they were slightly curious as to what Grimmjow was laughing about.

"Hahahahaha oh man," Grimmjow said, trying to catch his breath. "Oh man, yeah I remember writing some grafitti on Karakura's campus."

"Oh my, such a bad bad boy," Nel added, pretending to swoon. "Do tell the story though, I've got to hear this."

"Well, it was the big championship playoff between our team and Karakura." Grimmjow said. "So me and some of the guys got the idea to mess with our opponents and write some derogatory things on their campus."

"Seems a bit childish don't you think?" Harribel added.

"Ahhhh it was all in good fun," Grimmjow replied. "At least some of them thought so anyway."

"So what did you write Grimm?" Lilynette asked, fascinated by Grimmjow's tale of teenage mischief.

"Mine was 'Kurosaki wears pantaloons' if I remember right," Grimmjow stated, still chuckling at the memory. "Some of the others were pretty funny too, like Edorad's 'Karakura are teh suxorzed' and Yylfordt's 'Karakura smells like dog buns.'

Starrk and Harribel simply shook their head at Grimmjow's tale, while Nel and Lilynette giggled. Cirucci on the otherhand simply smirked as the brash blue haired boy continued his story.

"Yammy's was probably the most baffling one of all though," Grimmjow said, sounding confused.

"Oh really?" Cirucci asked, "I know I'm probably going to regret asking this but, what did Yammy write?"

"He spray painted 'I liek doh-nutz' all over the parking lot," Grimmjow replied. "Like seriously, where the fuck did THAT even COME from?"

"Now that I think about it," Starrk added, stiffling a yawn. "Didn't that stunt of yours cost us the game?"

"Come to think of it, yeah it did," Nel said in agreement. "Those Karakura guys were pretty mad if I remember right."

"Yep," Cirucci added. "And what better way to unleash all that rage than on the football field."

"We might have lost the game," Grimmjow said, smirking proudly. "But it was worth it to pull off that prank."

"Too bad Coach Zaraki didn't think so," Starrk replied. "Neither did Principal Luisenbarn."

"Aw come on Starrk," Grimmjow said as he playfully hit Starrk's arm. "Let me enjoy my moment man!"

"Still," Cirucci said. "Yammy's 'I liek doh-nutz' graffti makes a hell of a lot more sense then some of the shit customers ask at my boyfriend's work place."

"Oh hell..." Starrk said, sounding slightly frightend.

"Oh yeah," Cirucci replied, "I still say the worst thing I've heard out of a customer, and I was actually THERE that day, was some crazy old bat who wanted a certain water because and I quote 'she was allergic to oxygen.' Needless to say I was stunned into silence after hearing that."

That last statement brought everyone to a standstill. No one present for this conversation could believe what they heard. Cirucci was amused by their expressions after she mentioned someone being "allergic to oxygen".

"So, let me get this straight," Grimmjow said, breaking the silence. "They said they're 'allergic' to OXYGEN?! AKA AIR?!"

"Yep, that's what the wacko said." Cirucci replied.

"HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!" Grimmjow shouted in response, his head slightly hurting from such a concept.

"Maybe that customer is some kind of outer space plant creature," Starrk added. "It'd certainly explain that oxygen allergy."

"Oh you mean like the Fiore from Legend of Los Lobos?" Harribel chimed in.

"Yeah actually," Starrk replied. "They have to wear special suits when visiting inhabited worlds or they will wilt, if I remember right."

"Unlike that customer though, the Fiore are a peaceful species." Harribel said, laughing a little.

"Yeah, they're litteral flower children in both appearance and philosophy."

"Wow... " Cirucci whispered to Nel as she observed the conversation between Starrk and Harribel. "I still can't get over Starrk taking so quickly to someone like this, especially after..."

"Yeah," Nel whispered back. "His ex was such a cruel thing, and they had NOTHING in common. Yet Tia's the opposite, and seems like they have quite a number of common interests."

"I hope those two make it 'official'," Cirucci added. "They look so, perfect together."

"Same here, I mean even Lilynette's taken to Tia." Nel whispered happily.

"So what are you two talking about over there?" Starrk said.

"Oh, nothing important." Nel replied cheerfully.

"Okay?" Starrk asked, confused at his friend's response.

As the group walked around the mall and continued to give Harribel the tour, they all enjoyed various amusing conversations, although very little of it revolved around school work, which was the original purpose of the meet up. Time flew rather quickly as the group enjoyed each other's company. Of course Grimmjow and Lilynette kept bugging Starrk regarding the time he spent with Harribel at the bookstore, with Starrk retaliating about Grimmjow and Nelliel.

Harribel had heard about Starrk's tendencies to sleep during class and laze about at home. Today, however, she got to see a different side to Starrk. She noticed that when he was among his friends, he felt alive and energized. Harribel also noticed how she was able to relax around Starrk and simply be herself, something that she could never do around her ex, or the group she used to associate with at her old school. Something else that she couldn't stop thinking about was how holding hands with Starrk and just being with him in general felt right.

Soon it was getting late and it was time for everyone to head back home. As everyone made their way back to the parking lot they noticed a strange figure hiding behind the dumpsters. Grimmjow was quick to point out that it was Yylfordt, hiding from his deranged younger brother. When Grimmjow shouted for him, Yylfordt silently told him to be quiet for he didn't want Szayel to find him. Of course, that was enough for the pink haired, bespecticled boy to find his older brother, much to the latter's dismay.

"Ahhhhhh there you are you naughty naughty boy!" Szayel exclaimed upon finding Yylfordt. "There is nowhere for you to flee to now mein guinea pig."

"Aww man..." Yylfordt groaned as he resigned himself to his fate.

"Oh don't worry mein brother," Szayel said as a maniacal grin formed on his face "I promise you this series of cosmetic experimentations won't hurt... much."

"Much?" Yylfordt asked, fear clearly showing. "What do you mean by 'much'?"

"Oh...Nothing," Szayel replied, whistling a jaunty sea shanty. "Nothing at all mein brother, nothing at all."

"That's what I was afraid of..." Yylfordt groaned.

Elsewhere in the parking lot, the group of friends were preparing to go their seperate ways. Although they didn't complete any school related work, they did have a lot of fun. However all present would agree that they probably didn't need to see Szayel Aporro dragging his older brother off via a leash.

"Hey, any of you guys going to the homecoming game coming up?" Grimmjow asked "We're up against Sokyogu if I remember right."

"Sure," Cirucci replied. "Provided I can get the day off that is."

"Oh I'll definitely be there," Nel added cheerfully "I wanna cheer you on since you're on the team and all!"

"I'll make sure Starrky goes." Lilynette said, smiling mischeviously.

"I don't even want to know how you plan to make that happen..." Starrk muttered.

"That's just gonna have to be my little secret." Lilynette replied, still grinning wickedly as she gave her brother a wink.

"Well anyway, see you guys at school Monday." Grimmjow said, as he jumped into his jeep.

"Yeah, catch you all later," Nel said waving. "Oh and don't forget to call me tonight Cirucci, we still have some catching up to do!"

"Oh you can count on that girl!" Cirucci said as she hopped into her car.

"See ya later guys," Starrk said as he climbed into his car.

After each person bid one another a fond farewell they finally drove off on their separate ways. Starrk and Grimmjow were saddened that they had to be parted, albeit temporarily, from their objects of affection, but there were other things to focus on that would alieviate that bit of sadness.

 _With Grimmjow and Nelliel..._

"So," Nel said, enjoying the evening breeze. "Did you have fun today? I know I did."

"Yeah," Grimmjow replied. "It was pretty cool hanging out with you, even if I DID lose my title."

"Wanna do it again sometime?" Nel asked, her smile ever present. "Hang out that is, and of course you're always free to challenge me to a rematch."

"Heh, is the sky blue?!" Grimmjow replied, his cockiness present as usual. "Of COURSE I wanna hang with you again, anytime."

"How about next week then?" Nel asked. "Maybe after the game we could grab a li'l bite to eat in celebration?"

"Heh, yeah!" Grimmjow growled excitedly. "A perfect way to celebrate victory! Man you come up with some amazing party ideas Nel."

"Awww, Grimm..." Nel said, her face reddening from her companion's compliment. "D... Don't forget, we can also hang after school t... too..."

"Yeah there's that," Grimmjow replied. "When I don't have practice of course."

"Would it bother you if um... I sat and watched during your practice/training days?" Nel asked, touching her fingers together.

"Sure I guess," Grimmjow replied, "I don't know why you would though, wouldn't you be bored as all hell?"

"Nah, I can work on some assignments if that happens." Nel said, her confidence suddenly restored.

 _"Although..."_ Nel thought happily to herself. _"I don't think I'd ever get bored watching you get all hot and sweaty, Grimm... mmmmm..."_

"Well, it's up to you then," Grimmjow said. "Then again aren't cheerleader tryouts this coming week?"

"Oh crap!" Nel said, startled at Grimmjow's question. "You're right! Thank you so much for reminding me."

"Geez Nel, scare a man to death why don't you?!" Grimmjow shouted at Nel's outburst.

"Oh... hehehe, sorry Grimm," Nel replied, slightly embarassed. "It's just with so much stuff going on I completely forgot about cheerleader tryouts."

"No worries, but if you're gonna freak out, could you not do it while I'm driving?" Grimmjow asked. "I mean I wanna keep Pantera and us in one piece you know?"

"I'll keep that in mind Grimmy," Nel replied. "But your Jeep's name is so cute, anyone ever told you that?"

"Pantera's a MANLY name, not 'cute'." Grimmjow said.

"Doesn't stop me from thinking it is," Nel stated, grinning "Besides, I named my car 'Gamuza' if it makes you feel better.

"'Gamuza eh?'" Grimmjow asked. "Did you name it after that J-rock group or is there like a deeper meaning behind it?"

"Well," Nel said, as she was thumbing through Grimmjow's CD collection. "You'd be partially right with the first guess, I do like Praising Gamuzas but it's also a reference to my online handle."

"Oh ho ho ho," Grimmjow chuckled. "Now THIS I wanna know, and your music tastes since you're checking out my music collection."

"Okie dokie then," Nel replied, "I suppose I can indulge some of your kitty like curiosities then. Well first off, my online handle is 'Capricorn_Knight', feel free to add me sometime."

"Awesome, mine's 'PantherKing' short, sweet and to the point," Grimmjow replied. "Oh and you bet, first thing I'm doing is adding you."

"I guess if one were to get technical 'Gamuza' would translate to 'chamois' but very few would know what a chamois IS, other than being my favorite animal, so I went with 'Capricorn_Knight'. I suppose I should have technically used 'Antelope Knight' but that just doesn't sound as cool you know?" Nel stated, explaining the origins of her username.

"That, sounds rather awesome actually." Grimmjow replied, genuinely interested in Nel's words.

"As for music tastes," Nel explained. "Well, Starrk probably should have filled you in on that."

"What you like bubbly, poppy shit, right?" Grimmjow asked.

"Well only a little, provided it's from the 80s." Nel replied, giving her driver a little wink. "Tell you what, how about I surprise you next time we go out?"

"Oh you why must you tease me so?" Grimmjow asked, acting melodramatic.

"Well, where would the fun be if I told you everything now?" Nel replied, playfully teasing Grimmjow. "Besides, my house is coming up."

"Aw man," Grimmjow said, sulking a bit. "I was hoping I'd learn more about you, plus, we forgot to finish some of those assignments."

"We could take care of that over the phone tomorrow maybe?" Nel asked, as they pulled up to her house.

"Sounds good to me." Grimmjow replied. "Well then, see ya monday Nel."

"See ya Grimm-Kitty," Nel said, giving the blue haired boy a hug before exiting the vehicle. "But before I go, I... um... got you something at the mall, I think you'll like it."

"Nel... how did you...?" Grimmjow asked, taken aback that Nel knew about his love for cats.

"Lilynette told me, so I um... I bought it for you. To commemorate our first outing together," Nel said, blushing. "Well, I'd better get in, see you later Grimm, and hey poke me later tonight okay?"

"O... okay," Grimmjow said, as he accepted Nel's little gift. "See ya later Nel..."

 _"Shit..."_ He thought to himself while holding the kitty keychain. _"It's official... Fuck... I'm deeply in love with Nel..."_

Grimmjow stuck around long enough to make sure Nel got inside her home safely. Even though he hated parting her company he loved watching her, whether it be from behind or in front, he just loved looking at her. He didn't even get angry when she called him "Grimm-Kitty". He knew he was falling for her from the first day he laid eyes on her. Sure she was a knockout, he was well aware of that but these feelings he had been developing for sometime now were more than simple lust.

He was geniunely falling in love with Nelliel, this scared him a bit since, much like his own mother, he never viewed himself as "relationship material". His father constantly making comparisons between himself and his mother didn't help matters. Of course he thought that maybe Nel could change that, but he wasn't quite sure how she felt about him. Little did the blue haired, self styled punk realize, though, Nelliel was begining to develop feelings for Grimmjow as well.

 _With Starrk and Harribel..._

As Starrk pulled out of the mall and onto the road, he took time to enjoy the early evening sky and most importantly, the company. He enjoyed spending time with Harribel and was pleasantly surprised to have ran into his old friend Cirucci. To make his day complete he even managed to snag some of the graphic novels he'd been falling behind on. Of course he didn't forget about his younger sister, having picked up a copy of the newest Sword Maiden V volume for her. He was also amused that she found a "rival" in Dance Dance Revolution.

If there was one thing to say about Lilynette, it was that she was far more competitive than her older brother was. Where Starrk played games to unwind and have fun, Lilynette enjoyed the thrill of victory but she wasn't above having fun either, even if she lost. Harribel also had enjoyed her outing and getting to know her new friends, especially Starrk and Lilynette. It was somewhat refreshing as well that she didn't have to listen to another argument between her three friends. She loved Apacci, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun, but their incessant bickering tended to wear on her nerves many a time.

"Hope you two don't mind if I take a short nap," Lilynette said, lying back in the backseat.

"What, did that girl you were talking about wear you out?" Starrk asked, playfully teasing his sister.

Lilynette simply blew a raspberry at Starrk in response.

"So, Bel..." Starrk asked nervously. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yeah..." Harribel replied "How about you?"

"Same here." Starrk said. "Would... would you... would you have considered this a... a date?" Starrk asked, again feeling nervous.

"I... I don't know..." Harribel replied, blushing at Starrk's question, "I'd say possibly, would you have considered this a date?"

Starrk was taken aback by Harribel's turnabout on the question. Needless to say, his face was a deep shade of red after that question. Of course Starrk was paying most of his attention on the road ahead so he failed to notice that Harribel had reached her hand towards him numerous times.

"May I be honest?" Starrk asked trying to regain his composure.

"Of course," Harribel replied giving a small smile. "and I'll be honest as well."

"Well," Starrk began. "I'd say most likely it was, we both bought each other something we wanted."

"Yeah," Harribel replied. "And thank you so much for the graphic novels, I've been wanting to get these for a bit now."

"You're welcome," Starrk said, "And thank you for the rather amusing wolf shirt."

"So there was that, and the obvious spending time together," Harribel added. "Though we spent a lot of time with the others too."

"Wanna compromise and call it a 'pseudo-date'?" Starrk asked.

"Heh, sure thing." Harribel replied, giggling at Starrk's creative terminology.

"Maybe next time... if you want... we could call it a... a real date?" Harribel asked, nervously.

"Sure." Starrk replied.

"So, if you aren't doing anything next friday..." Harribel began. "Would you like to go to the big game against Sokyogu High?"

"You know, I'm normally not much for going to sporting events," Starrk replied. "But for you, sure I'd be more than happy to go with you Bel."

"Thank you Starrk," Harribel said happily. "To be fair I'm not much for football and such myself, but Mila Rose and Apacci are eyeing the cheerleading squad soooo..."

"Ah yes I see how that went," Starrk replied. "They want you to be there for support right?"

"Bingo," Harribel said, confirming Starrk's inquiry. "I imagine Grimmjow is similar with you?"

"Kinda," Starrk responded. "It's more like he wants me to see him 'destroy' his opponents, or to see Yammy do something strange. Lilynette's pretty bad about the support angle but also I think she just likes getting out."

"Yammy doing something strange seems to be a daily thing with him." Harribel laughed.

"Yeah I know right?" Starrk said, chuckling. "So I don't understand why I'd have to go to a school sporting event to see that. But that's Grimm for you, doesn't matter to him."

"You want to join us for dinner Bel?" Lilynette said, yawning and stirring slightly.

"I wish I could," Harribel replied. "But I told my mom I wouldn't be out too terribly late."

"Awwwwwww," Lilynette whined. "Well maybe next time then?"

"Sure," Harribel replied. "Speaking of which we're almost to my house."

"Yeah I see it up ahead." Starrk said, as he aproached the residence.

As they aproached Harribel's home, Lilynette started to stir a bit more, she knew she would be changing seats soon. When they pulled up, Starrk offered to walk Harribel to her door, which she accepted, but was a bit surprised by his gentlemanly offer. Lilynette simply grinned at her brother as the two were holding hands once again, planning to really rib on him as soon as he returned to the car. Of course while he was escorting Harribel to her door, she moved from the backseat to the front.

"Thanks again for the books, and for the outing," Harribel said, "I had a lot of fun today."

"No problem Bel," Starrk replied. "I enjoyed hanging out with you today, even if we didn't get any school work done."

"Hehe, yeah, but... um... if you want... would you um?" Harribel asked nervously. "Would you want to take care of that... over the phone tonight? Like after dinner or so?"

"Sure," Starrk replied, running his hand over his hair. "Even you don't have all that much left."

"Yeah, but still..." Harribel said. "Some of this algebra is confusing to me."

"Ah, I er, could help with that then." Starrk replied.

"That'd be cool of you and in return I could help you out with something." Harribel said.

"Yeah." Starrk replied.

"Of course we're on for Friday right?" Harribel asked.

"Not even the end of the world would make me miss it." Starrk replied. "Course, we'll see each other before then"

"Well yeah, at school," Harribel said. "Oh, before you leave... let me hand you something."

Harribel took out another slip of paper and wrote something on it, then placed it into Starrk's hand.

"There's my phone number," Harribel said, blushing. "Feel free to call me, or text me if reception is wonky."

"Will do," Starrk replied. "Standard rule of thumb of course is no calling really late right?"

"Right, unless it's an emergency of course," Harribel said. "So I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, see ya later Bel." Starrk replied.

Starrk made his way back to his car when Harribel entered her house. Feeling a sense of euphoria about him, he ignored most of Lilynette's teasing and questions about his and Harribel's relationship. While Lilynette disliked being ignored by her brother, she let it slide. Seeing her older brother so happy and lively was more than worth it.

"So... are you gonna ask her out?" Lilynette asked.

"I... don't know... I want to take this slow..." Starrk replied.

"Playing it smart I see," Lilynette said. " I don't blame you, still, you two look natural together, I'm serious."

"Are you gonna nag me about this the whole way home?" Starrk asked.

"Yep!" Lilynette replied cheerfully. "It's only cause I care about you, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Starrk muttered. "After dinner, I'm retiring to my room, so unless it's an emergency try not to bug me okay?"

"Oh ho ho ho," Lilynette said, as a wicked grin formed. "You got her number and you're gonna call her later aren't you? You naughty, naughty boy you."

"It's not like that Lilynette..." Starrk replied, eyes slightly widend and a deep red blush across his face. "It's for school stuff, I swear you're such a pervert."

"Keep telling yourself that Starrky," Lilynette said. "Keep telling yourself that."

Starrk simply grinned at his adoring sister as he drove the two home. Starrk was ready for an evening of kicking back, and an enjoyable phone call with the girl who captured his heart.

 _With Harribel..._

Harribel looked around her home in case her mother was home. She soon discovered she was home alone, as her mother would be a little later arriving. She took this time to head up to her room and lie back on her bed and think about all the fun she had today. She enjoyed getting to know some of Nel and Starrk's other friends but the majority of her thoughts focused on the sleepy eyed, yet gentle natured boy with the gotee.

 _"Why don't I go on and ask him out?"_ Harribel thought to herself. _"He's nothing like my ex, or anyone from my old school for that matter. He makes me... happy."_

 _"Of course,"_ she continued in thought. _"I don't want to rush things, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same."_

 _"Mom would probably tell me it's best to just let things flow naturally, I think she'd be right in the case."_

 _"Still... I can't wait to see him again..."_

Harribel smiled at her thoughts as she unwound from the day's events. She then looked at the remaining stack of class assignments and figured it'd be fun to tackle those, especially with someone she was growing very close to. But before that, she took the volume of Legend of Los Lobos and began to read it, figuring that once they were done with their school work they'd have something else to talk about.

 **TO BE CONTINUED!**

 **A/N: This has to be my longest chapter so far but certainly very enjoyable.**

 **Once again special thanks goes out to my editor/co-writer Vetis and MJLCoyoteStarrk who provided me with the inspiration to rewrite this story.**

 **And of course some special thanks to all of you who took the time to read and review and all that good stuff.**


	4. Chapter 4: Tryouts of Pain!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or it's characters, that distinctive honor goes to Tite Kubo. I DO however own a tub of bleach which I use to make my brights their absolute brightest though.**

 **Chapter 4:**

 **Sports A' Go-Go!**

 **Or**

 **Tryouts of Pain!**

The rest of the weekend flew by fairly quick. Starrk and Harribel managed to get the remainder of their assignments done even with their outing. Not wanting to be all work and no play, they made sure to enjoy a pleasant phone call or two, mostly talking about their plans for the coming friday, as well as favorite TV and internet series. Lilynette could overhear bits and pieces of their conversation, but couldn't get much to go on.

Grimmjow and Nelliel also enjoyed the rest of their weekend. They managed to finish the remainder of their assignments as well, but unlike Starrk and Harribel, they chose to spend the rest of the weekend playing games online. It was here that Grimmjow learned about Nel's rather colorful vocabulary when she would lose. He found her creative use of profanity hilarious yet strangely arousing. Of course, when it came to the one game most everyone plays, there was one that even the combined skills of Grimmjow and Nelliel couldn't beat. The user was simply known as 'Skullcrusha', and it was during one such battle with Skullcrusha when Grimmjow learned about Nel's interesting and rather creative use of swears.

Ulquiorra quietly delivered his plush toy winnings to parties unknown, keeping a couple for Lilynette as a bribe. While Ulquiorra wouldn't mind someone acknowledging him performing an act of kindness, he didn't wish for someone like Grimmjow to find out, for he knew to well what would happen if he did. And if there was one thing Ulquiorra didn't need, it was more ribbing from Grimmjow. Soon the dawn of another school day was upon everyone, much to the dismay of Grimmjow.

Grimmjow had pulled into the campus parking lot, thinking that he wasn't the first one to arrive. However he immediately noticed only a couple of cars were in the parking lot. He was baffled as to why, until he thought that it might have been a teacher work day. That theory was soon to be shot down.

"What the hell is going on here?" Grimmjow asked, clearly annoyed. "My car's clock says 8:25, hell I should be running LATE... yet..."

It was then that he noticed one of the cars in the parking lot, in particular the bumper sticker. It featured the word "Brujería" on it along with numerous eyes.

"Well now..." Grimmjow muttered to himself. "There's only one guy I know who listens to that group..."

"Hey kid," A low voice echoed. "How long you gonna stand there staring at my car?"

Walking past Grimmjow was a tall, dark skinned and rather buff fellow who sported a strange white mohawk and unusual skull and crossbone earrings with a necklace made of something that looked like teeth. He was currently wearing a gray jumpsuit with his name on the front but under it he was wearing a solid black t-shirt and standard bluejeans. His foot wear of choice were black, steel-toed boots.

"Oh, sorry about that Mr. Leroux, say is today a holiday?" Grimmjow asked. "Or a teacher work day or something?"

"Not to my knowledge." Mr. Leroux replied. "I was about to ask you why you're always showing up so early."

"Early?" Grimmjow asked, confusion obviously showing "The clock in my car said 8:25 before I turned it off."

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's actually 7:15." Mr. Leroux replied. "You might want to get that car clock looked at, or at least reset it."

"Damn it!" Grimmjow shouted, clearly frustrated and crestfallen. "Why do the fates conspire against me to make me arrive early?"

"Man, chill out kid..." Mr. Leroux said, "Did you ever think about picking up some breakfast or something, or, I dunno, carpooling with some other students?"

 _"Now THAT'S an amazing idea!"_ Grimmjow thought to himself. _"I could start picking Nel up from school and maybe her and I could get a pick me up. It's the perfect plan!"_

"Hey, thanks for the idea Mr. Leroux." Grimmjow replied, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

"No problem kid," Mr. Leroux said. "Say, wanna make a quick five bucks?"

"Sure, what do I have to do?" Grimmjow asked.

"Just help me haul all this stuff," Mr. Leroux replied. "Mr. Luisenbarn's always been a bit of a neat freak so he wants the place in tip top shape."

"Why doesn't THAT surprise me?" Grimmjow asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, it's something left over from his days in the military," Mr. Leroux replied. "Oh and of course, this is all strictly under the table."

"Of course." Grimmjow said as he picked up a box of cleaning supplies.

With an extra pair of arms, it didn't take long for Mr. Leroux to unload the cleaning supplies from his car and, in addition to snagging an extra five bucks, he managed to pass some time. Before long, other students started to pull in to the parking lot, signalling the start of the new school week. Ulquiorra was, of course, the first to arrive, parking his Silver Wraith in his usual space under the rather large tree. Yylfordt's group soon followed after with Ggio Vega's group not far behind. Shortly after the two groups disembarked their respective vehicles, a rather large truck parked a little ways away from the other cars. Unsurprisingly the owner of the large truck was none other than Yammy, having arrived in time to catch breakfast, and today was bacon and pancakes day.

Grimmjow met up with Yylfordt after he and the rest of his carpooling group split up. The two greeted each other in their usual style and talked about some of the things that transpired over the weekend as they walked towards the doors. Needless to say, questions about Szayel's experimentation came up friequently.

"Good to see you escaped the 'Mad Avon Lady,'" Grimmjow said, snickering.

"Aw come on bro, not cool man," Yylfordt replied, trying to forget that rather traumatic experience.

"Sorry man," Grimmjow said. "If it makes you feel better, Major Psycho almost got me too."

"Yeah, I was gonna say, what about Nel making you her personal make up tester?" Yylfordt stated, his composure returning.

"Yeeeeeah," Grimmjow replied, shuddering. "That's something I'd rather not relive..."

"Man, I wish I could have hung out with you guys more," Yylfordt said. "But thanks to Szayel, I had to hide behind some damn dumpsters."

"Yet, Dexter still found you." Grimmjow stated.

"Yeah, only cause you guys pointed me out." Yylfordt said.

"Bullshit dude!" Grimmjow said loudly. "He would have found you regardless, that dude's got like some kind of radar system I swear."

"I wish I could argue that one bro..." Yylfordt replied. "I so wish I could argue that."

Before long, however, the two would be joined by a third person as a familiar dusty gray cadillac whizzed pasted them. Though it was incoherent, a small, shrill voice attempted to greet them by shouting out the window.

"Was that?" Grimmjow asked.

"Lilynette?" Yylfordt asked in response.

"I think it was," Grimmjow stated. "Man, I bet Starrk's gonna have a coronary one of these days cause of her."

"Nah bro," Yylfordt said. "Starrk's way to chill to have heart problems, even stress related ones."

"That's true, and those two grew up together too," Grimmjow said, laughing.

Before long, Grimmjow was greeted with a flying tackle, well an attempted flying tackle anyway. Lilynette leaped toward's the blue haired student and latched onto his neck into a hug. Yylfordt started snickering at the sight before him. Of course due to Lilynette's size and Grimmjow's physical prowess she wasn't able to knock him down, but she was still able to deliver her unusual greeting and, as a bonus, she climbed up to have a seat on his shoulders.

"Oh my," a lethargic voice cried out. "And just WHAT would Nel say if she say this?"

"Aw come on Starrk, you KNOW Lilynette's like a little sister to me." Grimmjow replied, a slight shade of red on his face being visable.

"I'd say that's the most adorable thing I've seen all morning." another voice chimed in.

"Oh... um... hi Nel," Grimmjow said nervously. "This is SO not what it looks like."

"Oh I know," Nel replied giggling as Grimmjow's face grew redder. "It's still cute though, who knows, maybe you'll carry me like that someday."

Grimmjow remained silent as his blush remained ever present. Yylfordt's and Lilynette's laughing certainly didn't help the blue haired punk's situation any.

"Alright Lilynette get off of Grimmjow," Starrk said stifling a yawn. "I think he's had enough."

"Awwwwww, do I have to?" Lilynette whined. "He's so comfy and I like how I'm making him all flustered."

"Teasing people, especially our friends, isn't cool Lilynette," Starrk replied, mid yawn. "Now come on, hop off of Grimm.

"Aw... Alright..." Lilynette grumbled as she jumped off from Grimmjow's shoulders. "There, happy now?"

"Phew..." Grimmjow said as he worked his shoulder muscles. "I know I'M happy."

"I dunno Grimm," Starrk said yawning some more. "I think you liked Lilynette glomping onto you like that."

"Oh come on man!" Grimmjow growled. "You know DAMN WELL I don't view the munchkin like that!"

"What, is my sister not good enough for you?" Starrk said, playfully teasing his friend.

"Why you gotta do this Starrk?" Grimmjow asked "There's only one girl I want to tackle glomp me like that, and she's walking right next to you!"

"Oh really now?" Nel asked grinning mischievously. "I'll have to remember that from now on."

Starrk chuckled a bit at Nel's reply and Grimmjow's reaciton.

"So, where's Harribel?" Grimmjow asked, quickly changing the subject.

Though before Starrk could answer, Harribel's vehicle had pulled up into the driveway. She had been running late all morning due to her alarm clock breaking down. The poorly timed traffic jam along the way certainly didn't help her situation. Harribel had risked an accident making sure she didn't show up to class late. She soon found herself running to catch up to her friends who had already entered the building.

"Sorry... sorry I'm... I'm late guys..." Harribel said in between breaths.

"It's alright Bel," Starrk replied. "Are you alright? You look like you've been through hell and school hasn't even started yet."

"It's... It's... okay Starrk," Harribel said catching her breath. "I ran a bit late is all."

"Oh, I hope it wasn't due to..." Starrk replied.

"Oh no no no," Harribel said before Starrk could finish his sentence. "You didn't keep me up too late, my alarm clock decided to quit on me."

"Uh, I could..." Stark began, "I could save up and buy you a new clock maybe?"

"That's sweet of you," Harribel replied. "But you don't need to go to all the trouble..."

"It's alright Bel," Starrk said. "It's for a good cause."

"I... I appreciate the thought Starrk." Harribel replied, blushing.

"You know, Bel should be glad she got here when she did," Lilynette said as she gestured over to Rudobon and his squad of Hall Monitors he effectionately called "The Exequias".

"Otherwise the 'Spanish Inquisition' over there would be questioning you, or worse."

The Exequias squadren consisted of students wearing black pants, white shirt and a gray jacket buttoned up. The group also wore a black and white sash across their chests. Rudobon was wearing the same uniform though he had a couple of additions which established himself as the squad leader. On the shoulders of his uniform were silver epaulette and he wore a silver whistle around his neck.

The Exequias were wrapping up their morning drills when they noticed the group consisting of Starrk, Harribel, Nelliel and Grimmjow still hanging around the front door of the building. However, they soon proceeded to conduct their first patrol of the day after observing them heading to their first classes of the day.

 _"Good lord..."_ Harribel thought to herself, observing the Exequias. _"Their uniformity is so... so unnerving..."_

"Well, you know what they say," Starrk added. "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition."

"Ha ha yeah," Harribel replied, laughing at Starrk and Lilynette's statements. "Especially since their chief weapon is surprise, surprise and fear. Wait, that's two."

Starrk and Lilynette both laughed at Harribel's response, one because, most likely she was right and two, she immediately got the joke the siblings were making.

"Oh, I just thought, it's a good thing we have my uncle's class first." Starrk stated.

"Yeah," Harribel replied, chuckling slightly. "He always seems to show up late."

"Look at how comfortable those two are around each other." Nel whispered to Grimmjow.

"Yeah," Grimmjow whispered back. "If I didn't know any better I'd swear those two had known each other for quite some time."

"Mmhmm," Nel replied, her trademark smile showing. "Don't they just look so... 'natural' together?"

"Yeah, they do," Grimmjow muttered. "Heh, I wonder what they're gonna name the kids?"

"Oh Grimm," Nel said as she playfully socked Grimmjow in the arm. "Don't you think you're a little premature for THAT kind of talk?"

"Owww," Grimmjow replied. "Maybe, but damn, that kinda hurt."

"Aw, don't be a baby Grimm." Nel said her happy grin taking on a mischievous appearance. "If I really wanted it to hurt, I could, you've seen it."

"That's true, and if I must say," Grimmjow said, grinning. "I kinda like it."

"That's good to know." Nel replied, playfully sticking her tongue out at the blue haired boy.

As the group walked together before having to seperate for their respective classes, Grimmjow took notice of something on the wall. It was a poster calling for all students to try out for the Hueco Mundo Hollows, the school sports team. Grimmjow smirked when he observed the posters decorating the walls. Nel remembered that this was also the same week cheerleading tryouts were to take place. As Starrk and Harribel caught up to their friends, Nel looked over at Harribel and once again her mischievous side emerged.

Before any conversation could begin, the boys and the girls had to separate for their first class. Starrk and Grimmjow walked towards Kyoraku's class while Nel and Harribel walked together for their respective first class of the day. Though Harribel also had Kyoraku's class, she could afford to be a little late since the instructor himself was known for ditching his own class.

"Say Tia," Nel began. "Cheerleading tryouts are this week, you gonna give it a shot?"

"No way," Harribel replied. "I'm not one of those living cliches. If I'm trying out for anything it's an actual sport."

"Aw come on," Nel said, mock pouting. "Wouldn't you want Starrkey to see how cute you'd look in the cheerleading uniform?"

"Wh.. wh.. what!?" Harribel asked, once again finding herself rather embarassed by Nel's question.

"It'd look really nice on you," Nel reasoned. "Plus think about how happy you'd make Starrkey."

"First off," Harribel replied, regaining her composure. "If I WERE to try out, and this is a huge 'IF' here, it wouldn't be just to be eye candy. Second, I don't want Starrk to think I'm another 'dumb blonde cheerleader'."

"It's alright Tia though I'll tell you now, Starrkey wouldn't think that at all," Nel said, taking a more serious tone. "I was just messing around, you don't actually have to try out if you don't want to."

"Well, what about you Nel?" Harribel asked. "Are you gonna try out for the squad?"

"Hell yeah I am," Nel replied, her enthusiasm shining forth despite the light shade of red on her face. "I want to be out there getting Grimm-Kitty pumped up, plus it'd give me a reason to spend time with him after practice, you know?"

"You really like Grimmjow don't you Nel?" Harribel asked, getting straight to the point.

"Hehe, you're no better with Starrkey, Tia," Nel replied, countering her friend's question. "I see how you get everytime I mention your Lobo."

"No fair bringing him into this," Harribel said, once again feeling a little embarassed. "And please PLEASE don't tell anyone about my little pet name for him."

"All's fair in love and war you know," Nel replied winking at Harribel. "Plus you DID give him your address AND phone number and all."

"I know but..." Harribel said, but had lost her train of thought.

"Alright, alright," Nel replied grinning. "I won't press the Starrkey issue, for now."

"Anyway, if you're not looking to try out for cheerleading, then what ARE you planning to try out for?" Nel inquired.

"Well if possible I'd like to try out for Volleyball," Harribel replied. "It's the only sport I know I'm good at besides swimming."

"Well, unfortunately for you Volleyball and Swimming won't be until spring," Nel stated.

"I thought swimming was a year round thing." Harribel said.

"Well it was, but they're working on a new pool so swim team tryouts got postponed." Nel replied.

"Well damn," Harribel muttered. "I don't know what else is available then."

"You COULD try out for soccer," Nel said. "I know Lilynette is trying out for the soccer team, it'd be a good way to get to know her, and Starrkey."

"Nel..." Harribel said, blushing slightly. "You said you wouldn't bring up Starrk again."

"Awwww, I'm sorry" Nel began. "Seriously though, don't feel discouraged, just for fun give the cheerleading tryout a go, you never know, you might not get picked. Plus, there are other sports you could be good at and not even know it."

"If you say so..." Harribel replied.

"Well look at it this way," Nel added. "You might get to see Luppi and Cuuhlhourne make complete morons out of themselves."

"The thought of either one of those guys in that uniform doesn't exactly reduce my reluctancy you know." Harribel replied, trying to purge the image of Cuuhlhourne and Luppi in cheerleader outfits out of her mind.

Nel simply giggled as the two girls walked towards their first class of the day. Other topics came up such as what they were going to do after school after tryouts, such as when they were gonna go all out with shopping and of course the topic of the traditional "Slumber Party" would come up from time to time.

 _With Starrk and Grimmjow..._

Elsewhere in Mr. Kyoraku's class, Grimmjow and Starrk were already in their seats and settled. Of course the class instructor did his daily ritual and passed out the daily assignment before deciding to take a "quick" break. This usually meant that the class would become a free period since the idea of Shunsui Kyoraku's "breaks" usually amounted to an hour or more. This dates back to his college days as his former roommate Mr. Ukitake would attest to. Harribel arrived a few minutes late but since Mr. Kyoraku wasn't present it didn't matter.

During Mr. Kyoraku's impromptu break time, Grimmjow and Starrk would talk about the upcoming tryouts later in the day, all while working on the aforementioned assignment. Starrk wasn't really all that interested in sports like his younger sister and Grimmjow were. However he was being needled by the latter into giving it a go with the idea that Harribel could see how "Manly" Starrk could look. Starrk was barely concious during his and Grimmjow's conversation.

"Come on man, Girls LOVE guys who aren't afraid to get down 'n dirty!" Grimmjow said.

"You know full well sports aren't really my thing..." Starrk replied, half awake.

"What if Harribel makes the cheerleading squad?" Grimmjow asked, smirking.

"Dude, what does that have to do with me trying out for sports?" Starrk asked in response.

"Well, if Harribel's on the squad, wouldn't you want her cheering for you?" Grimmjow answered.

Starrk was taken aback by the scenario Grimmjow proposed. He admitted to himself that he'd like the idea of Harribel cheering him on. But he also tried not to think more, "mature", thoughts on the matter. Unfortunately for him, Grimmjow imediately noticed his friend's flushed complexion. That alone answered all of Grimmjow's questions on that subject. It still wasn't enough to convince Starrk to participate in the tryouts though.

Of course Grimmjow's rather lurid scenario didn't escape the ears of Apacci, who gave the blue haired boy a glare that screamed, "You two perverts are SO dead!" Grimmjow didn't pay her any mind and Starrk was too busy catching a nap to notice the threat Apacci was mentally sending.

"Well what about this?" Grimmjow asked. "If you make a team, maybe that'll beef your stamina up some."

"What do you mean by that?" Starrk asked, opening one eye.

"Nothing personal dude," Grimmjow replied. "But everytime I see you, especially at school, you look like you're about to pass out at the drop of a hat."

"Hey man, it's not my fault Lilynette was blessed with a limitless reserve and I wasn't," Starrk replied.

"Hence the reason to give it a shot, you need more training young grasshopper." Grimmjow stated, trying to look like a wise ancient martial arts master.

"Whatever you say, Grand Master Felix." Starrk replied, chuckling slightly before going back to sleep.

"I'm serious man! Plus you'll get a wicked sweet jacket!" Grimmjow stated, however his words fell on deaf, sleeping ears.

Starrk wasn't the only one dreading try outs however, for another student was also filled with despair. Szayel Aporro Grantz may have been gifted when it came to intellegence but when it came to physical prowess, he was rather lacking in that aspect, despite his boasts about being "The Perfect Being". Which, in his mind, was one of the reasons he detested sports so much. It didn't matter to him however as he viewed himself as the perfect being, and in his warped mind, perfect beings do not play sports. Unfortunately for him, Zaraki Kenpatchi and Ikkaku Madarame thought differently, which meant bad news for Szayel Aporro.

 _Later in Gym Class..._

Gym class, that day, was a little different than usual. Of course those who saw the flyers posted in the hallways knew why. This was when each student would sign up for tryouts and the school coach Zaraki Kenpachi and his assistants Ikkaku Madarame and Yachiru Kusajishi were going to make sure there was a good turn out, one way or another.

"Alright girls!" Kenpachi said. "As you lot are no doubt aware of, try outs are this week."

"Don't even THINK about skipping out, participation is mandatory and will, I repeat WILL count towards your over all grade!" Madarame stated while making a rather unsettling face towards the class.

"And if you wimps think you CAN skip out," Kenpachi added. "THINK AGAIN! If you don't show up, my assistants WILL find you and bring you, by force if necessary!"

"Sign ups are available during class," Madarame said. "And the actual tryouts will begin this afternoon after school. Make sure you're dressed appropriately."

After Assistant Coach Madarame's statement, he and his collegue Coach Zaraki handed out more flyers. These depicted which sports were available to try out for. Each student looked over the flyers, figuring out what they were gonna try out for fairly quick. It was no surprise that Yammy, Poww, Edorad and Nirgge were going out for football again since they were on the team last year.

 _"Good GOD... does Madarame always have to make faces like that?"_ Grimmjow thought to himself while shuddering slightly.

"HEAR THAT BABY BRO?! YOU **HAVE** TO PARTICIPATE NOW!" Yylfordt shouted towards Szayel. "OTHERWISE YOUR PERFECT GPA GOES DOWN THE TOILET!"

However, Yylfordt's taunts seemed to have no effect on Szayel as he was absorbed in another experiment, one that he hoped would make the tryout ordeal less excruciating. In addition to working on his latest project, he was making more adjustments to his Smart Potion, hoping it would be more successful than his last attempt.

"Damn..." Starrk muttered to himself.

"Can't escape fate man," Grimmjow said as he patted Starrk's shoulder. "It won't be THAT bad, trust me."

"Easy for you to say," Starrk replied, "You don't have that little girl running you ragged every day."

"No, but there ARE other sports besides football you know." Grimmjow said.

"I know," Starrk replied. "But you already know how I feel about..."

"Yeah yeah, I know I know," Grimmjow interupted. "I know you don't give two shits about sports, but you think those three down there care?"

Grimmjow pointed towards Kenpachi, Madarame and Yachiru as he made his point. Madarame had yet another one of his rather frightening expressions on his face, Yachiru looked like she was ready to run a million laps around the Gym and as for Coach Zaraki himself, if his "Slasher Grin" was anything to go by, he was secretly hoping some of the students would try to skip tryouts.

"Touche..." Starrk replied, having resigned himself to his fate. "So what you trying out for?"

"Football of course, I can't wait to give those Karakura losers another beating," Grimmjow replied, his own "Slasher" grin ever present. "ESPECIALLY that Strawberry Punk, Kurosaki!"

"I might go for basketball too," Grimmjow said. "Wrestling's out since Yammy and Poww dominate that. What about you?"

"Don't blame you on skipping wrestling though basketball's tempting," Starrk replied. "Since it isn't as taxing as football..."

"You'll have to run laps," Grimmjow retorted. "Something that Yachiru kid's good at making you do already."

"Damn it..." Starrk muttered again as he continued to gloss over the flyer.

"Hey there's always Track," Yylfordt added. "I mean, like Grimm said, that pink haired girl's training you for it anyway."

"Plus odds are good you won't actually make a team," Grimmjow said. "They just want you to show up."

"Guess it's track then..." Starrk sighed as he picked his sport of choice.

 _Meanwhile with Nel and Harribel..._

Over on the other side of the gym, the girls were also looking over the tryout flyer. Nel was excited for the cheerleading tryouts but Harribel was less than enthused. The only sports she was interested in weren't holding tryouts until spring. Two other girls were also looking forward to trying out for the cheerleading squad as well, one more so than the other.

One of the girls in question was of short height with a slender build. Her long black hair was tied in pigtails. She was giving Nel and Harribel a glare that could have turned them to stone. The other girl was slightly taller than her companion and sported more tomboysih features. She had slick blonde hair with a slight fringe over her right eye. Unlike her friend, she wasn't starring down Nel and Harribel as if they were wanted criminals. In fact, she seemed like she was more embarassed for her friend's behavior.

"Ugh..." The black haired girl growled glancing over at Nel and Harribel. "Look at this shit Menoly, those two are SO gonna try and upstage me..."

"I doubt that Loly..." Menoly replied pointing towards Harribel. "I mean that one girl there looks like she'd rather die than be a cheerleader."

"Yeah well what about that Odelschvank girl?" Loly said, clearly annoyed. "Not only is she after that tasty hunk of a man Grimmjow but she's said she's trying out for the squad!"

"I doubt either one is joining to 'upstage' you or anything..." Menoly sighed. "Plus you KNOW Nel..."

Taking notice of the stares they were recieving, Harribel looked over at Nel.

"Hey Nel," Harribel said, getting Nel's attention.

"Hmm? What is it Tia?" Nel asked.

"Why is that one girl over there staring at you so intensely?" Harribel asked, concerned for her friend.

"Oh that's just Loly Aivirrne," Nel replied. "She always does that, it's like she thinks she's the star and we're gonna steal her spotlight or something."

"That's kinda crazy don't you think?" Harribel asked.

"Yeah it's a little silly sure," Nel replied. "But we all ignore it, plus Loly's a pretty good cheerleader."

"I guess," Harribel said, looking over at the pair of girls. "I still think it's a little crazy to make such a fuss or something so trivial."

 _With Ulquiorra..._

"Hey Ulquiorrrrrrraaaaa!" Yammy bellowed.

"What is it Yammy?" Ulquiorra replied.

"What are ya gonna sign up for?" Yammy asked

"Just because tryouts are mandatory doesn't mean I should care about something as trivial as sports." Ulquiorra replied in his usual monotone voice.

"Aw come on Ulquiorra, it'll be fun on the bun!" Yammy shouted happily.

"Oh hey look, I found something you could tryout for!" Yammy said holding up a cheerleader's flyer.

"And just why in the name of Dante Alighieri would I ever want to be a cheerleader?" Ulquiorra said, maintaining his deadpan expression.

"You'd be surrounded by a metric fuck ton of hot babes." Ggio said as he walked past.

"You'd also get to shout your lungs out!" Yammy bellowed. "As well as wear a skirt!"

"Again, I must ask you, WHY in the name of all that's sacred would I ever want to wear a skirt?" Ulquiorra asked, becoming annoyed with the whole subject.

"Something for the ladies?" Yammy replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"No." Ulquiorra stated plainly. "Now this looks like something more dignified, I think shall try out for kendo."

"Uh, yeah, whatever floats your boat Ulquiorra," Yammy said. "Oh, by the way we still on for lunch right?"

"Yes Yammy..." Ulquiorra sighed.

 _Back with Grimmjow..._

As the class wore on, each student lined up to put their name on the list of those trying out for the various teams. True to his word Grimmjow joined Yammy, Edorad and Poww for football and with a great reluctance, Starrk signed up for track alongside Ggio, the latter also signing up for basketball. Ggio was originally planning to go out for football but considering who'd he be practicing with, opted to change his mind. Findor and Avirama also found themselves joining Ggio for basketball, much to the braided student's dismay.

As for the girls, Nel of course signed up for cheerleading with Harribel reluctantly following suit, once again earning death glares from a jealous Loly. Of course they weren't the only ones to sign up for the cheerleading squad. Harribel's three friends and self proclaimed bodyguards, Apacci, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun also signed up. Finally, much to the dismay and entertainment of those present, Luppi and Charlotte Cuuhlhorne were the last to sign up.

Yylfordt's eyes widened in a look of horror at what he just witnessed, before breaking down to near tears. Grimmjow and Ggio looked over at the blonde haired pretty boy, concerned and confused, mostly confused, as to why Yylfordt was behaving so strangely.

"Man Yylfordt, what's up with you?" Ggio asked.

"Yeah really, you look like someone who just came back from war or someting." Grimmjow added.

"It's horrible bro, nightmare city man!" Yylfordt said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ggio and Grimmjow asked simultainiously.

"Yylfordt is in despair because Cuuhlhourne signed up for cheerleading." Poww said looking up from his book.

This news had a visable effect on Grimmjow and Ggio, but before either student could say anything, the bell rang, signalling the end of class and lunch time. Before long the students had made their way to the cafeteria and took their usual seats.

 _During Lunch..._

"Why oh dear GOD why!?" Yylfordt shouted in despair. "Why must you do this to us!? WHY must you be so cruel?!"

"What's eating Yylfordt?" Starrk asked, stifling a yawn.

"Cuuhlhourne and Luppi signed up for cheerleading tryouts." Grimmjow said, trying not to gag.

"Yeah bro," Yylfordt said. "Now I won't be able to look at the cheerleading squad without wanting to puke."

"I feel your pain dude," Ggio added patting Yylfordt's shoulders in sympathy. "All my cheerleader fantasies have been crushed into tiny, little pieces."

"You guys do know he has to actually PASS the try out right?" Starrk asked, trying to calm down his class mates.

"Yeah, so there's a chance that Cuuhlhourne or Luppi for that matter won't make the cut." Nel added.

"You mean... there's hope?" Yylfordt asked, perking up.

"So you're saying that there's a chance I'll be able to look at the cheerleaders and NOT want to vomit?" Ggio inquired. "OR want to gouge my eyes out?"

"Yeah, though I don't think we'd appreciate you guys perving on us." Nel replied, a stern tone showing in her voice.

"So, what about Szayel the Mad?" Grimmjow asked, changing the subject. "What do you think he's up to?"

"Don't know, don't care bro." Yylfordt said, trying to regain his composure.

Over at another table, Szayel Aporro had set up a makeshift laboratory of sorts. He was still tinkering around with a strange looking contraption with which he was hoping would aid him in his tryout attempt. However due to numerous interuptions and time constraints, he hadn't made much progress. It was clear that the self proclaimed "perfect being" was growing frustrated with the entire situation.

"Urgh... lousy mandatory tryouts..." Szayel mumbled to himself as he was lost in his work.

"Um, monarach," One of his "henchmen" said holding up something. "I brought you the pink sugar doughnuts you asked for."

"Are they cream filled?" Szayel inquired.

"Yes Monarch," the other chubby minion replied. "Just as you asked."

"Very good Verona," Szayel said as he took a bite into one of the doughnuts.

As he took a bite into the doughnut, the cream filling squirted out and, much to the discomfort of anyone nearby, licked the cream off of his lips. In between bites of his doughnuts and working on his inventions, Szayel looked over the flyer. Observing what sports teams were available for trying out for, one sport in particular caught Szayel Aporro's eye. All of a sudden, a wicked grin formed on Szayel's face, for now he had formulated a new plan. This latest idea caused the resident mad scientist to laugh maniacly.

Meanwhile, back at the table where Grimmjow, Yylfordt and Ggio were talking, they had noticed Szayel's sudden outburst of laughter.

"The fuck is he so happy about?" Grimmjow asked.

"I don't know bro," Yylfordt answered. "But whatever it is, it's giving me a bad feeling in the pit of my gut."

"Yeah really," Grimmjow said. "Everytime I hear your brother's laugh I cringe."

"Just be glad HE'S not going out for cheerleading" Nel said grinning mischievously.

That statement almost caused Harribel choke on her cream soda. Starrk simply raised an eyebrow at Nel in response, though his expression showed he too was disturbed at Nel's suggestion.

"Just when I thought the cheerleading squad couldn't get anymore disturbing," Harribel said in between coughs, "You HAD to go and put THAT image in my head..."

"Yeah really..." Starrk added, "so much for napping later."

"Oh come on Starrkey," Nel said. "You've never let eerie imagery stop you from sleeping in class before."

"Still..." Starrk replied, yawning. "It's Szayel, think about that for a moment."

"I agree with Starrk," Harribel added. "Damn near anything Szayel does always has that strange twinge of madness to it.

"That's just the kind of person he is." Nel said. "I mean without his brand of madness, life would be kinda boring don't you think?"

"If you say so Nel," Starrk replied. "If you say so..."

"Yeah, no shit," Grimmjow growled, "He's fucking nuts."

"That's putting it lightly bro," Yylfordt added.

"No shit, you LIVE with the guy." Grimmjow snickered.

"Don't remind me man..." Yylfordt replied "Don't remind me of my 'Hell on Earth'."

Elsewhere in the cafeteria Lilynette was sitting with her friends, also talking about the upcoming tryouts. Unlike her brother, Lilynette was more then enthused about showing off her skills on the soccer field. Momo was considering trying out for cheerleading while Kiyone and Sentaro were, once again, arguing over who was going to succeed at tryouts.

"Oh man I am SO gonna kick ass on the Soccer Field!" Lilynette shouted happily.

"Oh, why do you say that?" Momo asked, ignoring the argument taking place beside her.

"I've had years worth of kicking practice already," Lilynette answered. "Waking my lazy brother up in the mornings turned out to be great for building up my kicks."

"Kicking isn't the only aspect of soccer you know. Kiyone said, taking time out from arguing with Sentaro.

"Oh I know, head butting is also a technique," Lilynette stated. "I've had practice with that too, again using Starrk as my 'training dummy'. Plus Nel showed me a really cool technique I can't wait to show off."

"Oh wow," Momo said. "Don't you think that's a little excessive?"

"Nah, not really." Lilynette replied. "I mean he could avoid it all together if he'd either get up when the clock goes off OR learn to dodge one."

"I'm almost afraid to ask about this headbutting technique of yours." Sentaro added, over hearing Lilynette's boasts.

Kiyone and Momo giggled at Lilynette's statements with Sentaro wincing a little, perhaps feeling a bit of symptathy for the physical abuse Starrk must endure every morning. Once again the bell rang, and each student went their respective class as usual.

 _With Grimmjow and Nel..._

Grimmjow couldn't concentrate on his work as he was too excited about tryouts. The blue haired athlete was looking forward to, in his own words, "re-entering the field of combat". On at least a couple of occasions Nel had to snap Grimmjow out of his euphoric trance. Of course her attempts weren't as effective as they could be since she herself was hyped up for her cheerleading tryout.

"Hey Grimm..." Nel said, nudging Grimmjow. "We need to focus on our assignment."

"Huh?" Grimmjow replied. "Oh yeah, yeah, that."

"You feeling alright Grimm?" Nel asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright, why?" Grimmjow asked in response.

"Cause you keep zoning out silly," Nel replied. "That's why."

"Oh, yeah, about that," Grimmjow explained. "I just can't seem to concentrate on this, I'm more focused on this afternoon."

"Yeah, I don't blame you there," Nel said. "I always kind of enjoyed cheerleading myself, although wrestling sounds like fun too."

"Yeah, sure..." Grimmjow said before snapping out of his euphoria. "Wait, WHAT!?"

"I like cheerleading and all, but I always enjoyed wrestling a wee bit more." Nel explained.

"But, wouldn't you be scared of say having to practice against Yammy?" Grimmjow said showing concern for Nel's well being. "I mean there are few things worse than getting a face full of Yammy butt."

"Nah, the big guy's strong but I got a way of dealing with that." Nel said confidently. "If I get a chance I could show you my special trick I came up with."

"Oh really now?" Grimmjow replied, smirking. "What would this special move be?"

"My patented Battering Ram," Nel said, her grin taking on that familiar mischievous appearance once more.

"Hit a target in the breadbasket and they always go down. I could show you if you want."

"That's... actually fucking brilliant," Grimmjow said, somewhat unnerved at Nel's offer.

"Wait, was that what you did to Nnoitra when he insulted you? Your 'battering ram' or whatever it was you called it?"

"Mmhmm," Nel replied grinning happily "Something like that, yeah."

Nel immediately noticed Grimmjow's worried expression after she answered his question.

"Aw, don't worry Grimmy," Nel said, smiling sweetly. "I'll do my best not to actually hurt you, but..."

"But...?" Grimmjow asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But if I do, I know you're tough enough to take it." Nel replied, winking at the now slightly shaken blue haired student.

 _"Agh, Jeez... what a time to be slightly scared but also aroused at the same time..."_ Grimmjow thought to himself as both students resumed focus on their class assignment.

Elsewhere in the classroom, Nnoitra once again found himself fuming. The sight of Grimmjow and Nelliel bonding made his jealous rage boil over.

 _"Fucking cat boy..."_ Nnoitra thought to himself as his face contorted in rage. _"Him and that... that fucking BITCH... I'll make him pay dearly for making a fool of me, and then I'll steal his bitch while he's out cold."_

"Ugh... Nnoitra, you REALLY should be focusing on the assignment." Luppi said, breaking Nnoitra's train of thought.

"JUDAS H. PRIEST LUPPI!" Nnoitra shouted as he found himself facing Luppi's lower half. "Stop getting all up close and personal!"

"Oh I dunno oh Tall, Dark n Sexy," Luppi replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "This is the first time I've heard you complain about me being all 'up close and personal' you know."

Nnoitra shuddered at his partner's statement as he continued to focus his ever growing rage at both Grimmjow and Nelliel.

 _With Starrk and Harribel..._

Elsewhere in Kisuke Urahara's class, it was business as usual. Most of the class was working on their assignment for the day while Nakeem and Di-Roy were attempting to find more things to "blow up", making the duo of Findor and Avirama find ways to retaliate. Ggio was extremely aggrivated this near daily routine of "war" between the two teams. However, today he was occupied with thoughts of his own, one being of course, tryouts later that afternoon.

The second series of thoughts was about that mysterious girl he saw at the arcade the other day. He wanted to know more about her, and who she was. Of course his daydreaming was interupted by Mila Rose shouting at him to duck as a small piece of debris was rocketing towards him.

"HOLY SHIT!" Ggio shouted as he quickly ducked for cover.

"Fucking morons..." Mila Rose growled under her breath. "If I ever get my hands on any of them, I'm gonna tear them a new one..."

"Which pair of morons you want?" Ggio asked, agreeing with his lab partner's statement.

"Which ever one I can catch." Mila Rose replied.

"Same." Ggio said. "Course if we catch them both..."

"We'll flip a coin to decide which pair of idiots to pound into oblivion first." Mila Rose stated.

"Works for me." Ggio said.

Elsewhere in the classroom, Starrk and Harribel were bracing themselves for any possible debris or makeshift shrapnel from the antics of Nakeen and Di-Roy, along with Avirama and Findor's retaliations. Starrk immediately noticed some debris flying towards Harribel and himself. Reacting quickly, he grabbed Harribel's shoulders and pushed her down to avoid the incoming debris with Starrk following suit. Harribel's face quickly turned a shade of red, as did Starrk's.

"Um... are... are you alright?" Starrk asked.

"Yeah," Harribel replied, smiling a little. "I'm fine."

"YEAH! TAKE THAT YOU LOSERS!" Avirama shouted before performing his ritual. "I CAN BEAT YA! GONNA BEAT YA! GONNA BEAT YA!"

"Huh huh huh huh, We have only just begun to fight, Fart knocker!" Nakeen shouted in response.

"Yeah, heh heh heh," Di Roy shrieked. "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!"

In another section of the classroom Ulquiorra, observing the events transpiring in class, held a hand up to his face and sighed. He knew voicing his concerns to Urahara would be for naught and trying to confront the four directly would be a foolish mistake as well. The calculating student figured it was best to let nature run it's course, thinking it was only a matter of time before the two teams ended up in the emergency room.

 _ **With Starrk...**_

As the game of war between the two teams, "Team Dumbass" and "Team Moron" as were the nicknames given by the majority of the class, wore down, the bell sounded off, signaling the end of class. The rest of the day went semi normal, with the exception of Miss Ise's class.

Though Starrk was the laid back type, he couldn't help but find himself slightly annoyed with being forced to try out for something. His aggrivation was such that he found himself awake during Algibra 2, a feat that Miss Ise found both refreshing yet disturbing at the same time. Of course, despite his irritation, Starrk managed to keep himself cool and collected, figuring he'll just catch a nap when he got home or when his tryout was finished.

"Dude..." Yylfordt whispered to Starrk. "You're actually awake?"

"Yeah." Starrk replied trying to hold back a yawn. "Blame the forced tryouts for that."

"You're still worried about that bro?" Yylfordt asked.

"Not worried really, more like slightly annoyed." Starrk replied.

"Just give it a go and have fun with it," Yylfordt said. "You never know, you might discover some hidden talent or something.

"Some how I doubt running Track, or being chased by a little girl counts as a 'hidden talent'." Starrk replied.

"Never know man, increased speed might save your skin one day bro." Yylfordt stated.

Before Yylfordt or Starrk could say anything further, Miss Ise was standing between both students' desks. She was clearly annoyed at the two holding a conversation and possibly disrupting her class.

"MISTER Grantz AND MISTER Starrk!" Miss Ise shouted, startling both Yylfordt and Starrk.

"I will NOT have any mindless chit chat in during my lectures! Understand?"

"Yes Miss Ise." Starrk and Yylfordt said simultainiously.

Aside from Miss Ise's dressing down of Starrk and Yylfordt for the later's impromptu conversation, the rest of class proceeded normally. Once the final bell of the day sounded off all of the students trying out for various teams met up and began to make their way towards the football field.

 _Later that afternoon..._

At the end of the regular school day, everyone gathered around at the football field. All of the students were soon seated on the bleachers as both Coach Zaraki and Assistant Coach Madarame made a mental head count of how many showed up. Both were rather disappointed that no one actually tried to skip out on the tryouts. Coach Zaraki was the first one to speak up once all the students were seated.

"Alright, here's what's gonna happen," Coach Zaraki said. "For those trying out for cheerleading gather around over by that goal post."

"It usually takes a few minutes but the cheerleading coach'll show up soon."

"Five bucks says the cheerleading coach is Ayasegawa." Apacci whispered to Mila Rose.

"You're on" Mila Rose whispered back.

"For those of you trying out for football line up over there." Coach Zaraki said pointing over to where the tackling dummies were located.

"For those who are wanting to try out for track, line up in front of Yachiru here." Coach Zaraki stated gesturing towards the pink haired little girl.

 _"I hope she's not the track coach..."_ Starrk thought to himself as he shuddered.

"Those who want to try out for wrestling, line up in front of Ikkaku.", Coach Zaraki stated, pointing towards his assistant who was making a rather unusual and creepy face, making most of the student body rather uncomfortable.

"Those interested in trying out for kendo, line up in front of Yumichika." Coach Zaraki stated, grinning at the confused look on the students.

"Hah! Looks like you owe me five bucks Apacci" Mila Rose whispered at Apacci.

"Feh..." Apacci grumbled. "Who's to say he isn't in charge of kendo AND cheerleading hmmmm?"

"Oh quit whining and cough up the dough Apacci." Mila Rose replied, quickly growing irritated by Apacci's attempt back out of the wager.

"Make me Bubble Butt!" Apacci said mockingly.

"Those wanting to try out for basketball, archery, soccer, or the weird stuff will wait against the wall for the second round of tryouts." Coach Zaraki announced loudly, gesturing at the walls and laughing as he watched the students quickly line up. "And those wanting to try out for two or more teams that have conflicting tryouts, tell Yumi, I don't want to deal with it."

Grinning wickedly to himself, Coach Zaraki was about to start the tryouts when he noticed a prime chance to possibly humiliate one of the weaker students. Szayel had just walked in the door, flanked by his two minions, and for once he wasn't distracted by his research. Both of his minions were carrying odd looking bags, while he himself was unencumbered.

"Well, if it isn't Pinky, come to show that he's all talk and no action. What are you waiting for, get on up here and pick something to try out for if you have the balls." With this bit of taunting thrown out there, Coach Zaraki simply stood there, arms crossed, grinning and leering at the late arrival.

Showing unusual restraint, Szayel did not respond to the verbal taunting with his own words. Rather, he simply snapped his fingers, and with that action his minions opened their bags and snapped into action. Lumina quickly and deftly strapped what looked like a quiver, white with a pattern of blue crosses, to Szayel's back as Verona handed him a matching longbow. With practiced ease, Szayel reached back and, in rapid succession, fired three arrows directly towards Coach Zaraki before he could even blink. Seeing that his targets, whatever they were, had been hit, Szayel simply smirked, a hint of his madness showing through, and dropped the bow into Verona's hands before flipping off Coach Zaraki and leaving.

Coach Zaraki, as well as the rest of the student body, had stood in frozen silence for the entire encounter, but as the top points of Zaraki's unusual hairstyle collapsed and fell into his eyes, they began to snap out of it. Turning to look behind him, he noticed that the top three of his hair bells were in fact impaled by an arrow each, which was in turn embedded in the concrete wall. Blinking, Zaraki began to chuckle to himself, which turned into a full blown maniacal laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHA, now THAT's how you try out wimps. Now, all of you, tryouts have officially begun, get to it or I'll tell Pinky there that you stole his calculator or something.", Coach Zaraki shouted inbetween bouts of laughter.

Snapping out of their shock, the student body as a whole suddenly found some enthusiasm for the mandatory tryouts and quickly formed the proper groups. Starrk slid over towards Yylfordt, who had suddenly decided to try out for track for two main reasons: showing support for his bro, and improving his stamina so that he can outrun his now far more terrifying brother.

"Dude, did you know he could shoot like that? I didn't know he was into anything even slightly physical." Starrk asked, looking over at his friend, who looked paler than usual.

"Bro, I had no idea he was into archery, or anything besides blowing up his lab." Yylfordt muttered, twitching slightly as he wondered what other things his brother might be into that he had no idea about.

Grimmjow slipped out from his group and headed over towards his friends. "Holy crap, where the hell did that come from? And why was his gear blue and white, I thought he was into everything pink?"

"Something tells me that he stole it from somebody, probably someone from Karakura High." A soft, feminine voice spoke up from behind Yylfordt, causing him to jump slightly.

Grimmjow started to nod in agreement, seeming to recall that one of his rival's friends had a similar color scheme. "Yeah that sounds about right."

Looking up, Grimmjow noticed the speaker, a demure looking girl with braided black hair wearing the standard school uniform. "Wait a second, you look familiar..." Grimmjow wondered, trying to place her.

After asking his question, Grimmjow suddenly felt something in one of his pockets.. Before he could react, however, a soft yet sinister sounding voice whispered in his ear.

"Oh come now..." the voice said in an eerie and unnerving tone. "SURELY you recognize my assistant Jaegerjaquez? It hasn't been all that long since we were last acquainted."

Freezing in place, Grimmjow suddenly went pale before slowly turning his head, only to meet a pair of golden yellow eyes framed with black and white makeup. Blinking once, Grimmjow yelped in fear and jumped away. "What the fuck, no, no, you can't be here, you're not here, this is a bad fucking dream, no no no not happening..."

Confused by Grimmjow's reaction, Starrk and Yylfordt looked at the unfamiliar students, now standing side by side. The girl was rather average, but her companion was quite a different story. He was wearing the standard school uniform with the addition of a lab coat and purple scarf, and was of average height but slender build. His face, however, was covered in stripes of black and white makeup, framed with a golden border and chinpiece. His dark blue hair was elaborately coifed into something resembling a Pharaoh's headdress, and he was staring at Grimmjow with a wide, toothy grin.

"It would seem that your screams are the same, that is good to note. Record that, Nemu.", the odd looking student told his assistant, who promptly brought out a notebook and wrote down the information.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!", Grimmjow scream-shouted, anger replacing some of the fear.

"Due to some, shall we say, technical problems with the infrastructure of our previous school, it was deemed necessary that we continue our education in a different location. This was simply the most immediate solution."

Grinning even wider, the odd new student tilted his head and examined Grimmjow closer. "You know, we never did finish our experiment..."

Grimmjow growled deep in his throat. "OUR experiment you freakish mime-wannabe?! You fucking tied me up, marked me, and made me watch reruns of fucking Jersey Shore while poking me with I don't even want to know what the fuck it was."

"It's hardly my fault that you fell into my trap. In fact, if you hadn't been trying to vandalize our school, we would never have met, my dear Number 6. Hm, and now we have a perfect chance to finish our experiment. Nemu, do we still have the records for Number 6?"

"Yes, we do. Should I reactivate the case study?", the innocent looking Nemu replied.

"Didn't I just say that? I believe I did. Now, come with us Number 6, or else we shall get the hose..."

"Like hell I'd ever go off willingly with you, freakshow." Grimmjow shouted, hysteria tinging his voice.

"Forcing someone to watch Jersey Shore?" Starrk whispered to Yylfordt. "Isn't that considered a war crime or something?"

"Good GOD..." Yylfordt shouted, fear clearly present in his voice. "There's TWO OF THEM!"

"Two of them?" The blue haired student turned his attention to Yylfordt. "Perhaps, hm, yes, you are Szayel's brother, are you not?"

Yylfordt paled even further. "Wait, you know him?"

"Better than you know, that egotistical self-proclaimed paragon of 'perfection', as aggravating as he may be, is about the only other intelligent company in the area. Nemu, summon him for me, I can already feel my intelligence decreasing."

"Yes, Lord Mayuri. Should I ask him to bring the tool box?"

"Why would I ask for him if he didn't have the tool box, silly girl?"

With various degrees of horror, the group watched as Nemu sent a text, presumably to the other mad scientist. Her phone beeped a reply almost immediately, and reading it she turned to look at her companion.

"All he sent was the word Swordfish, Mayuri.", Nemu simply stated.

Grinning, the blue haired student held his hand up and snapped his fingers, and with surprising ease caught a white arrow out of the air. This arrow had a strange bundle tied to the end, which Mayuri deftly untied to reveal a small voodoo-type doll shaped like Grimmjow.

"Ah, so he finished it. Not bad craftsmanship. I think I shall give this a test run once these blasted tryouts are over. Speaking of which, Nemu, were you thinking about signing up to beat the hell out of the riffraff, or can we vacate this den of hormones?"

"I was thinking about trying out for wrestling, it wouldn't seem fair for me to join the football team.", Nemu calmly replied.

"Fine, you silly girl, I shall be waiting against the wall and might just leave without you.", Mayuri muttered as he headed towards the wall, glaring at all in his path.

Nemu began to walk towards her appropriate group, but not before stopping next to Grimmjow. "I would check your pocket, if I were you.", Nemu calmly stated before walking off.

Twitching with no small amount of horror, Grimmjow reached into his front pocket and withdrew a small snowglobe. It didn't seem to be anything unusual, save for the reddish color of the snow, and it had a wind up knob on the bottom. Still nervous, he wound the snowglobe once, only to be treated to a music box version of "It's A Small World." Relieved that it wasn't going to explode in his hand or something, Grimmjow realized that the music was not only stopping, but getting slightly louder and more distorted with each repetition. Screaming, he dropped it on the ground and stomped it into submission.

"What the fuck man, just what the fuck.", Grimmjow muttered before shuffling back to his group, trying to forget what the hell just happened, and carefully blocking out Mayuri's casual arrow grab.

"He's going to need years of powerful Adlerian therapy after this isn't he?" Starrk asked, looking towards Yylfordt, still twitching from the scene that played out before him.

"He won't be the only one bro..." Yylfordt replied, shaking a bit.

"I STILL can't believe there's TWO of them now..."

"Hey Grimm," Starrk said trying to get Grimmjow's attention. "You gonna be alright man?"

"It's impossible to be 'alright' knowing THAT GUY'S gonna be here..." Grimmjow shouted gesturing towards Mayuri.

 _With Nelliel and Harribel..._

While Grimmjow and Yylfordt were twitching in fear over what they had whitnessed. Over where most of the female student population were located, the cheerleading tryouts were about to commence. While Nelliel was excited about it, Harribel was not and her expression clearly showed it.

"Hey Nel..." Harribel began. "I think... I think I'm not gonna try out for cheerleading after all."

"Why is that?" Nel asked.

"I just don't think I'm cheerleading material," Harribel replied. "Plus, they said I only had to show up."

"Fair enough I suppose," Nel said. "A shame though, I still think you'd look cute in the cheerleader uniform."

"If you say so," Harribel added, gesturing towards Nnoitra. "I also don't want creeps like Piano Mouth over there starring at me."

"Hmmmm, good point." Nel replied as she caught Nnoitra's rather lurid gaze at the potential members of the cheerleading squad.

"Hey Nel!" Lilynette shouted as she ran towards the green haired girl.

"Oh hi there Lilynette," Nel replied "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Lilynette said "'Cept Grimmjow's over there freaking the hell out over that weird looking guy over there."

Nelliel looked over to where Starrk, Yylfordt and Grimmjow were hanging out. She immediately noticed both Grimmjow and Yylfordt shaking a bit in fear and Starrk simply looking slightly confused and a bit weirded out. Then she looked to where Mayuri was standing and a wide grin appeared on her face.

"Oh! I didn't know HE was going to be coming here!" Nel said happily.

"You know that freaky looking guy?" Harribel asked.

"Yeah, he's Szayel's friend/Science Rival" Nel replied. "Though Szayel denies the whole 'Friend' thing."

"He gives me the creeps, even more so than the Exequias," Harribel said. "I didn't even think that was possible..."

"Everyone says that about Mayuri Kurotsuchi," Nel added "Well most everyone anyway, others say he's just as crazy as Szayel."

"So how do you know that Kurotsuchi guy?" Harribel asked.

"Oh that's easy," Nel replied. "I met them through Szayel when he was tutoring me in science since I'm er, not that good at it."

"So they're acquantences of Szayel then?" Harribel asked. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Oh yeah, we hung out from time to time after tutoring sessions." Nel answered. "Despite his quirks, Szayel's actually pretty fun to hang out with."

"So you both are trying out for something?" Lilynette asked.

"Yeah, though Tia said she was dropping out of the cheerleading tryouts." Nel replied.

"I just don't see myself as a cheerleader." Harribel added.

"Yeah, me either," Lilynette said. "I'd rather be out there mixing it up and getting all dirty."

"A shame volleyball isn't until spring or that there's no swim team," Harribel lamented.

"I know right? Swiming's a lot of fun," Lilynette said. "But at least there's Soccer."

"Indeed there is," Nel added. "I already suggested to Tia that she should try out for the team too."

"Yeah, that'd be great!" Lilynette added. "It'd be awesome to have someone to practice with."

"I don't know," Harribel said. "I've only played a couple of games here and there."

"Is that so?" Lilynette asked. "I'm practically a pro at the game, perhaps I could teach you a thing or two."

"Haha, you just might have to Lilynette." Harribel replied, laughing a little.

"If you make the team, you won't have to wear that cheerleader uniform at the very least." Lilynette said.

Harribel laughed at Lilynette's statement as the three girls began to head to their respective tryouts. To their surprise, Nel made a beeline to where the wrestling tryouts were taking place. What the three girls didn't expect to see was Mayuri's assistant Nemu already lined up for the wrestling tryouts. Ikkaku was more than amused to see two girls wanting to try out for the wrestling team.

"So, which one of you sissies wants to go first?" Ikkaku asked.

"Ooooooh, can I go first?!" Nel asked excitedly as she was bouncing up and down.

"Well now, would you look at this?" Ikkaku said, laughing as he made another unsettling face. "We got a couple of cute li'l girls trying out for the team."

"I hope you and your little friend there, are aware that we play rough, VERY rough" Ikkaku stated.

"Is that so?" Nel replied, grinning mischievously.

"Yeah we do, now are you gonna stand there looking cute and asking questions?" Ikkaku asked. "Or are you gonna show us what you got?"

 _"Heh, this'll be like taking candy from a baby..."_ Ikkaku thought to himself.

As Ikkaku was prepared to show the rest of the students the basics on what looked to be an easy target, Nel shouted an incomprehensable battle cry and charged towards the assistant coach. Before Ikkaku could react, the curvacious young wrestling hopeful leaped into the air and landed a quick knee to his chin, deftly grabbing him by the neck and placing him into a choke hold. While still in the choke hold, Ikkaku and Nel fell to the ground with Nel on top as she proceeded to give the wrestling coach noogies.

"Come on! Say Uncle! Say Uncle!" Nel shouted happily as she continued to give Ikkaku the noogie treatment.

"Never!" Ikkaku shouted defiantly.

"Come on baldy, say Uncle!" Nel replied, tightening the hold. "Of course, I could do this all day if you want."

Pausing for a moment, Ikkaku thought about his current predicament, and noticing the other candidates laughing, he decided on his best course of action.

"Alright, alright!" Ikkaku choked out as he tapped the ground in front of him. "I give! Uncle! Uncle!"

After Ikkaku submitted, Nel jumped off of him and, with a disturbingly wide grin, she gave him a hand wave.

"That was a lot of fun! Thanks a million baldy!" Nel said happily "Now it's off to cheerleading!"

Feeling pumped up from her impromptu match with Ikkaku, Nel skipped happily over to where cheerleading tryouts were to take place. Up next was Nemu, who was far more quiet compared to Nel. Hoping to save some face in front of the other candidates, Ikkaku soon approched the rather demure student, an ominous grin on his face.

"So, little girl, you think you can even make a dent in me? You don't look like you could swat a fly, but it's too late now, you're in line so get front and center!", Ikkaku shouted towards Nemu, who followed his order without showing any expression whatsoever.

"What's wrong, little girl, did I hurt your widdle feelings? Too bad, let a real athlete show you how it's done.", Ikkaku grandstanded, earning a smattering of applause.

Still unfazed, Nemu simply bowed at the waist. "I wish you a good match sir. When shall we begin?"

Ikkaku turned to her and grinned disturbingly. "Why not right now? Now class, when you have such a weak opponent first you -", Ikkaku began to instruct the class, only to be interrupted by the sudden blur that was Nemu. Before he could even think of finishing his sentence, he found himself staring at his own backside, leg over his shoulder, and his arms somehow both in front and back of him.

"Do you yield, sir?" Nemu calmly asked, not even breathing hard as her soft voice resonated in the now deathly silent room.

All Ikkaku could do was gasp for breath as, with an incredible show of strength and control, he watched his own butt advance towards his face.

"The usual code is one groan for no, two for yes sir, I really would not recommend trying to talk. Something might rupture.", Nemu quietly stated, looking as calm and composed as ever.

Suddenly wishing that he was anywhere but face-to-face with his own butt, Ikkaku groaned twice, and groaned a third time as he hit the floor, now untwisted. Nemu simply looked down at him and bowed once more.

"Thank you for the opportunity sir. The numbness should fade within the hour." Nemu calmly explained as she returned to the group, which parted to give her a wide berth.

Regaining some composure, Ikkaku decided to pretend that the past few minutes had never happened and turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright, pair off and let's see your moves, what are you waiting for?", Ikkaku shouted as he gingerly sat down, still trying to figure out exactly what had happened and trying to ignore Nemu sitting down and taking notes.

 _With Grimmjow..._

Having watched Nel's try out for wrestling, Grimmjow once again found himself in a euphoric trance. The self proclaimed punk found himself torn between laughing at Ikkaku's predicament and being slightly scared by Nel's rather unorthidox technique. Yet secretly he was also rather aroused by her roughhousing.

"Hey man," a voice said. "You alright?"

"Huh?" Grimmjow replied "Oh um, yeah I'm alright Edorad."

"Yeah, right." Edorad said smirking. "We saw you watching Nel's try out. If time permits you could always go watch her cheerleading tryout."

"Grimmjow," Another voice chimed in. "It's painfully obvious to us that you are infatuated with Nelliel."

"YES!" Nirgge shouted.

"Ain't that the truth Poww," Edorad added "Grimm here looked like he was about to sneak off for some 'self serving' time."

"Aw come on guys! Not cool!" Grimmjow said, his face red from embarassment.

"All jokes aside," Poww said "Why you just go on and ask Nelliel out?"

"Yeah man, I'm pretty sure she likes you too," Edorad added. "I mean she's always sitting with you at lunch and stuff."

Grimmjow once again found himself lost in thought, he could definitely see himself going out with Nel, even making a future with her. However he had a small bit of doubt that he'd be good for her, mostly due to statements his father made regarding Grimmjow's mother. Little did anyone present know, Grimmjow feared that he was a little too much like his absentee mother.

 _Back to Nelliel..._

While Nel stood with the other cheerleading squad hopefuls, Lilynette and Harribel made their way over to where the soccer tryouts were about to commence. Of course, stalking the candidates for the squad was an all too familiar lecherous and lanky student. Nnoitra was sitting on the base of the bleachers, with binoculars in hand and ever present perverse grin on his face.

"Awwww yeah..." Nnoitra said to himself. "There's some choice ones this year..."

Among the group of candidates for the squad were of course Apacci, Sung Sun and Mila Rose, as well as Loly and Menoly. Much to the despair of all the healthy males present and to the amusement of some, Charlotte Cuuhlhourne and Luppi were also present. To add to the further horror and amusement both Cuuhlhourne and Luppi's cheerleading attire was rather unusual to say the least.

Cuuhlhourne's attire consisted of a sparkling pink leotard with white roses on the shoulders and a larger white rose on his abdomen. Luppi's outfit was just as strange as Cuuhlhourne's, but instead of sparkling pink, Luppi wore a purple leotard with glittery forest green vines drapped around him. When the two caught sight of one another, it was only a matter of time before insults were thrown.

"I don't know WHY you even bothered to show up," Cuuhlhourne said. "ESPECIALLY wearing THAT garish ensemble!"

"Oh that's rich!" Luppi retorted "ESPECIALLY coming from someone who looks like a living parade float!"

"Oh is that so?" Cuuhlhourne said "That sounds like the calling card of a poor, jealous individual who knows not what TRUE BEAUTY is!"

"BEAUTY?" Luppi replied. "If YOU'RE the idea of Beauty then I might as well gouge my eyes out right now!"

"Oh you vapid little tart!" Cuuhlhourne shouted. "How DARE you insult The Princess of Hueco Mundo High!?"

"Princess?!" Luppi replied. "Your face looks like something cows spit up!"

"I on the other hand am the TRUE Princess!"

"Oh no you're not!" Cuuhlhourne retourted. "You don't even have a tiara on upon your head!"

"I'm still cuter than you'll ever be!" Luppi replied sticking his tongue out.

"Oh now you've done it!" Cuuhlhourne said as he proceeded to perform high kicks. "Time to put your money where your mouth is!"

"Bring it on Sasquatch!" Luppi taunted "Bring it on!"

"Ugh... someone really needs to shut that freak Cuuhlhourne up!" Loly shouted, clearly annoyed with the situation taking place.

"It's bad enough Nel's a guarantee for the squad, but the last thing we need is that overgrown gorilla making a fool out of us. At least Luppi has better fashion sense!"

"Loly... there's no need to take this to seriously..." Menoly said, trying to reason with her friend.

"Besides Cuuhlhourne has the physical strength to do some of the more tough stunts."

Soon both Loly and Menoly found themselves arguing over which of the two peculiar males was the better cheerleader. Meanwhile Cuulhourne and Luppi continued their impromptu contest. Luppi quickly retaliated his own high kicks, much to the amusement of some and the horror for others. The other candidates for the cheerleading were then split into two "camps" one being "Team Cuuhlhourne" and the other being "Team Luppi". Eventually the series of high kicks ended up with the two fabulous rivals kicking each other right in their faces.

The kicking and insult banter between Cuuhlhourne and Luppi continued for a few more minutes. Before long, the cheerleading coach showed up and it was none other than Starrk's uncle, Shunsuei Kyoraku.

"Don't forget, you owe me five bucks Apacci" Mila Rose whispered towards Apacci.

Apacci was busy enjoying the scuffle between Cuuhlhourne and Luppi, thus she ignored her friend's statement.

"My my," Kyoraku said, observing the fight taking place between the two peculiarly dressed students. "This is certainly an interesting sight to see."

"Wait... HE'S the cheerleading coach?!" Apacci shouted.

"Ugh... this is all we need, a pervert for a cheerleading coach." Mila Rose added.

"Well now, you two definitely have spirit," Kyoraku said. "For that matter, all of you look great, you're all on the team."

"Ugh... for God's sake Shun, they have to show us what they can do first." another, more stern voice chimed in.

"Oh my Lisa," Kyoraku replied, smirking. "It's a little soon for THAT kind of show isn't it?"

"Just because I have a very healthy interest doesn't mean YOU get to have your mind in the gutter." Lisa replied as she tossed a book in Kyoraku's direction.

"Aw come now Lisa," Kyoraku replied as he dodged the books. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

As Kyoraku continued to dodge flying projectiles a loud, high pitched whine was heard.

All heads turned towards the sound, which seemed to be getting louder and closer, when from out of nowhere a small pink-haired projectile slammed into Shunsuei, who fell to the ground and wisely decided to stay there as the high-speed object bounced up and down on his stomach.

"HithereShunShunthenicebluehairgavemesupercandyicanflydoyouhavemorecandyiwantmorecandy!" Yachiru rapidly rattled off, looking around as she seemed to almost blur with the rapid motions.

"Oohlookhumancakeiwantcakenomnomnom!" Yachiru squealed as she launched herself towards Cuuhlhourne and Luppi, who called a truce as they ducked, both doing full splits. Yachiru missed her target, which sent her straight into the voyeuristic Nnoitra, who screamed as he was not only slammed into by the sugar-high kid, but sent through some of the bleachers, leaving a Nnoitra shaped indent in some.

"Yourenotyummylookingweirdstickmanwhereiscandyiwantcandy!", Yachiru squealed as she began to jump up and down a lot rougher than she did with Shunsuei.

Giggling a bit, Nel looked around and got a wickedly mischevious idea. "Hey Yachiru, look over there, it's a giant jawbreaker!", she shouted, pointing towards Ikkaku.

Yachiru's head popped up immediately as she spotted Ikkaku's shiny bald head, and her eyes lit up as she began drooling. "Yayilovejawbreakersyoureallminefunnylookingjawbreakernomnomnom!" She shouted out as she launched herself off of Nnoitra, who groaned, and near flew until she slammed into Ikkaku, who suddenly had a little kid chewing on his head with a death grip.

"Ahhhh get it off, get it off!", Ikkaku screamed as he ran around, Yachiru nomming on his head as if trying to get to the soft center. "Free pass on tryouts for whoever gets her off my head!"

Hearing this, Mayuri, who had been watching the chaos unfold from the shadows, stepped forward. "Little girl, if you get go of the bald idiot, I have another piece of supercandy for you." Grinning, he held up a small piece of candy to prove his point.

Looking up immediately, Yachiru spotted the candy, squealed, and jumped off of Ikkaku just as Mayuri tossed it into the air, catching the candy in her mouth with a big smile on her face.

"Well, that solves that issue, with my exception, I believe we can leave this place Nemu.", Mayuri stated, looking with satisfaction as the second dose began to work.

"Perhaps we should stay longer to observe the outcome of this experiment, Lord Mayuri.", Nemu calmly stated.

"Hm, perhaps you're right, but first we take cover. Come, silly girl."

With that, the duo ducked behind a mound of football supplies as they watched, along with everyone else, as Yachiru definitely began to blur around the edges. Coach Zaraki, hearing some of the commotion, came over to start yelling at everyone but stopped once he saw Yachiru.

"Holy hell, who the fuck gave her candy?", he shouted, and a few of the braver souls pointed to Mayuri, who simply bowed and grinned. Eye twitching, in a rare moment of clarity the coach realized that this was one battle he could not win.

"Everyone, get the fuck out of the room, building if you can. Tryouts will be held tomorrow, or whenever she comes down from this. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm getting out right now!", Coach Zaraki yelled before running as fast as he could towards the door.

The student body watched as Coach Zaraki, informally known as the Fearless, ran from his own assistant coach. Turning their heads back to the young girl, a rare consensus was reached that they should follow suit.

"Um, is she hovering dude?", Yylfordt hesitantly asked Grimmjow.

"I think so, we'd better get out ourselves." Grimmjow replied.

"Yeah no shit man!" Ggio said as he sprinted past Grimmjow and Yylfordt.

"See ya tomorrow Grimm, if that kid doesn't accidently wreck the school that is." Yylfordt said as he made a mad dash.

"See ya Yylfordt!" Grimmjow said as he made his way over to Nel.

 _With Starrk, Harribel, Nel and Grimmjow..._

After the chaos that errupted at the hands of a sugar high Yachiru, and the sudden end to the tryouts, everyone present made their way to the student parking lot. Of course, for some students, they had already made their respective teams mainly due to being on the team the previous year. Starrk had botched his tryout on purpose, mainly due to not being interested in the whole thing.

Nelliel was bouncing happily beside Grimmjow having passed both of her tryouts with relative ease. Grimmjow was still a bit lost in thought over what Poww and Edorad told him, but he couldn't help but smile as he saw how happy Nel was. Starrk was walking alongside Harribel as they talked about their respective tryouts. Harribel was a little disappointed that Starrk didn't give it his all, but understood his reasoning, especially considering she herself droppped out of the cheerleading tryout. Pretty soon both couples were about to joined by a very familar girl.

"Starrrrrrrrrrrrrk!" Lilynette shouted happily as she lept towards her brother.

"Woah hey there squirt," Starrk said as Lilynette tackle hugged him. "How did your tryout go?"

"Fan-freaking-tastic!" Lilynette replied happily.

"Well that's good to hear." Starrk said.

"What about you Starrk? How did yours go?" Lilynette asked.

"It was meh." Starrk replied mid yawn.

"Starrk didn't make the track team," Harribel said. "Though I'm more than sure he would have had he went all out."

"DAMMIT STARRK!" Lilynette shouted as she whacked her brother. "You should have least put some EFFORT in!"

"I mean come the hell on! What if Szayel went berserk again and wanted to 'experiment' on you?"

"That's sprinting, not track and field." Starrk replied.

"Besides, I don't think Szayel would be interested in using me for a test subject anyway."

"You don't know that!" Lilynette stated "He could tripping balls on one of his potions or something, your ass would be too damn slow to get away!"

"Oh I don't know," Harribel chimed in. "I think if Starrk was in any real danger he'd be able to get himself to safety with no real problem."

"Or he could just throw Yylfordt in front of Pinky to distract him." Lilynette replied.

"But he still forgot the fact that girls love guys who are athletic." Lilynette said, trying to justify her statements to Starrk.

"Well that might be true to some girls but there are other girls don't care much for show offs," Harribel replied.

Lilynette thought about Harribel's statement for a moment and suddenly a smirk made it's way onto the petite young girl's face. She initially thought that Harribel would be disappointed that Starrk purposefully failed his tryout, but that thought quickly disappered.

"So, are you one of those girls who don't like show-offy jocks?" Lilynette asked, her precocious smirk ever present.

Harribel remained silent and blushed a little at Lilynette's inquiry. Said silence and the blush on her face answered the smaller girl's question.

"Anyway..." Harribel said, regaining her composure "You said your tryout went well correct?"

"Mmhmm!" Lilynette replied, grinning. "Mr. Ukitake was so impressed with my skills on the field, he put me on the team, even though I'm a freshman." Lilynette replied enthusiasticly.

"That's wonderful squirt." Starrk said.

"How many times do I have to tell you, STOP calling me 'squirt'?!" Lilynette yelled as she gave the older, sleepy eyed student a glare.

"Aw now Lilynette," Nelliel spoke up, "You know he only means that as a term of endearment."

"I dunno," Lilynette replied. "It sounds so... so dirty."

"Hahaha, that's cause you're mind's always in the gutter munchkin." Grimmjow said, laughing.

"Oh what do you know Grimm?" Lilynette said as she playfully blew the blue haired boy a raspberry.

"Anyway," Grimmjow said as he looked towards Nel. "Hey um Nel, there's gonna be a get together next friday after the game, and I was um wondering if..."

"Oh OF COURSE I'll be your date for the Homecoming get together silly!" Nel replied as she embraced Grimmjow and hugged him tightly.

"Awesome!" Grimmjow replied, his famous smirk ever present.

"Well you know, If you hadn't asked me, I was either going to ask you myself." Nel said.

"Awwwwww," Lilynette said as she witnessed the touching moment take place. "How adorable..."

Obseriving Starrk and Harribel walking side by side, Nel grinned a bit as she noticed both her friends' fingers intertwining with one another. Lilynette had also glanced at her brother and Harribel holding hands again. Both girls knew that this was a habit both Starrk and Harribel had rapidly developed, whether they were aware of such or not. Before long the group had made their way to their respective cars. Lilynette decided to stay with Grimmjow and Nel for a little bit, mostly to give Starrk and Harribel a few moments for themselves.

"Hey Grimm," Lilynette said as she glanced over to Starrk and Harribel. "You think Starrk's gonna ask Harribel to the homecoming get-together?"

"I dunno," Grimmjow replied. "Your brother's always been a bit awkward about these kind of things."

"Aw, I really hope he does." Nel added.

"Same here," Lilynette said. "Starrk needs someone in his life who'll treat him right."

"Ain't that the truth..." Grimmjow stated.

"Well I can't think of anyone better for Starrkey than Tia Harribel." Nel said.

"Well," Grimmjow said. "Here's hoping he actually asks her."

"Yeah..." Lilynette sighed, looking back over towards Starrk and Harribel. "Here's hoping he doesn't wuss out..."

 _With Starrk and Harribel..._

While Nel, Grimmjow and Lilynette were conversing, Starrk and Harribel had walked over to Harribel's car. Starrk only heard part of their conversation, mainly the talk about a get together after the game against Seireitei High. He then glanced over at Harribel and decided that he was going to ask her if she would like to go. Unfortunately for him, finding the right words proved to be a rather difficult task for the young, sleepy eye'd student.

 _"It's now or never Lobo..."_ Starrk thought to himself.

"So... um..." Starrk began nerviously as he ran a hand through his hair. "Would... would you... um... er..."

"Yes Starrk?" Harribel asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I... I was wondering... um..." Starrk replied mumbling over his words. "Would you... like to... um..."

"Would I like to what?" Harribel asked, a small smile finding it's way across her lips.

Harribel knew what Starrk was going to ask her, he was intending to ask her out on an actual date. Which of course explained why he was so nervous, she didn't mind it however, so long as he didn't throw up, or worse, faint from anxiety.

"Would you like to... maybe..." Starrk replied, finally finding the nerve to ask his question. "Would you like to go to the homecoming get together with me next friday, as my date?"

"Of course I would," Harribel replied, taking Starrk's other hand into her own. "I'd be delighted to be your date."

Starrk couldn't help but smile, despite his initial nervousness and the deep shade of red that was ever present across his face. Of course now that the question was asked, his anxieties quickly faded, that didn't mean that Starrk wasn't going to feel a tad silly about his nervousness later on.

"So do you want me to pick you up after dinner or?" Starrk asked.

"Actually," Harribel replied. "I was kind of hoping we'd get together after school that day, if you're ok with that of course.

"Sure." Starrk said. "In case we get loaded up on homework or something?"

"Possibly, yes." Harribel stated. "But also to, you know, spend some time with you, and maybe Lilynette as well."

"That sounds great," Starrk said. "I'm sure Lilynette will enjoy that as well."

"I'm glad," Harribel said. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing Bel." Starrk replied.

"Cool, oh and I'll call at the usual time, alright?" Harribel said as she started up her car.

"But of course," Starrk replied "See ya later Bel."

"Til tomorrow Starrk." Harribel said before she exited the parking lot.

 _"Until tomorrow Mi Lobo, until tomorrow,"_ Harribel thought to herself.

After Harribel had exited and made her way towards her home, Starrk walked over to where Grimmjow, Nelliel and Lilynette were talking. The sleepy eyed student told his friends the good news about Harribel and himself going to the Homecoming celebration together. The news, of course, earned a huge "squee" from Nel and a huge grin from Lilynette. Grimmjow of course celebrated his friend's good fortune by giving him a celebratory fist bump.

Soon after Starrk and Lilynette made their way to his car and drove off for home. Starrk was hoping to catch a nap before Harribel called and Lilynette wanted to wrap up any remaining homework so she could get some extra soccer practice in before dark. Grimmjow and Nelliel also followed suit, with the former driving the later home. For both Starrk and Grimmjow, though the day was rather odd, it turned out to be very good day for them both.

To Be Continued.

 **Notes:** **Once again I want to thank my co-writer Vetis for helping out with the editing and for her contributions to this chapter.**

 **I also want to thank Konan-Akatsuki on DeviantArt for her continued support of this fic and for her artistic contributions both past and future. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with.**


End file.
